News of: Tuesday, April 24 2012,
The government of the Netherlands has fallen, after the talks about budget cuts failed.
The Netherlands had a coalition government of christian-democrats and liberal-conservatives (CDA and VVD). The two parties did not have a majority in parliament together, so they needed support of a third party, which was provided by the PVV.
The PVV is a populist, mainly anti-islam party, led by Mr Geert Wilders.
Although the PVV lent support to the government, they did not take part in it. All ministers in the cabinet were either CDA or VVD members.
The Netherlands is facing large budget cuts, necessary under European Union budget rules.
New elections will probably be held in September 2012.
In the meantime, the sitting government will take care of current affairs. They may introduce large budget cuts, in order to avoid EU penalties for violation of the budget rules.
