Rutte Quits as Dutch Prime Minister After 13 Years in Power

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(Bloomberg) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that he is leaving politics after his coalition government collapsed amid infighting over migration policy.

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Addressing Dutch lawmakers in The Hague on Monday, Rutte said that he is stepping down as leader of his party after 13 years in power. The country’s longest-serving premier had been facing a vote of no confidence in parliament later Monday but the opposition withdrew the motion following his statement.

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“Yesterday morning I decided that I will no longer be available as leader of the VVD,” Rutte, 56, said. “After the election when a new government will start, I will leave active politics.”

Rutte’s resignation brings down the curtain on a career place him at the heart of European Union politics as the bloc’s leaders wrestled with the debt crisis, which was raging when he took office in 2010, through successive Greek bailouts, a global pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Rutte is a savvy operator who became a key player in the European leaders council due to his ability to shape the agenda and navigate the complex web of national allegiances. 

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His departure marks a further changing of the guard in European politics, after Germany’s veteran chancellor, Angela Merkel, retired in 2021. It leaves the Hungarian populist Viktor Orban, who came to power a few months before Rutte, out on his own as the longest-standing premier in the EU. 

Rutte’s government collapsed abruptly on Friday after he gave his coalition an ultimatum to limit the right to family reunions for refugees from war zones earlier last week, staking his fourth coalition on his ability to force his partners into line. 

As Rutte prepared to address lawmakers on Monday, it was clear that he was on the brink, with some of his former coalition partners considering voting to oust him, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private conversations.

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Bringing down his fourth coalition was initially seen as a power play. His opponents said he’d pushed the country into a snap election in order to strengthen his own political position, betting that a stand on immigration would shore up his support. 

But the move backfired as his former partners turned against him, raising the prospect of an undignified forced exit.  

Rutte endured a slew of controversial issues in his four-term tenure. He was in charge during a scandal over childcare subsidies, which tipped thousands into poverty and triggered the collapse of his third cabinet, and has been battling with high inflation and an energy crisis over the past year.

“There has been speculation in recent days about what motivates me,” he told lawmakers as he announced his departure. “The only answer to that is: the Netherlands.” 

(Updates with comment from Rutte in third paragraph, context throughout)

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