MADRID, 22 (EUROPA PRESS)
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced his resignation on Friday after realizing that the disagreements within the governing coalition over imposing new sanctions against Israel are now insurmountable, which has also led to the departure of all representatives of the New Social Contract (NSC) from the government.
Veldkamp promised Parliament on Thursday to adopt punishments in retaliation for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, but this Friday he saw in a meeting that not all ministers are willing to do so.
After experiencing this "resistance," the minister announced that he will resign. "I don't believe things will change, and my scope for action is limited," he stated in a statement to the media reported by state television station NOS.
The movement hasn't stopped there, though. NSC leader and Deputy Prime Minister Eddy Van Hijum has also announced that all party members with representation in the first or second line of cabinet would follow Veldkamp's lead, leaving the Interior, Education, and Health portfolios vacant.
The Dutch government has been in office since June, after the departure of Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) left the bloc, which had been reduced to three parties until now, without a majority. In addition to the NSC, the coalition also includes the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Peasant-Citizen Movement (BBB).
