Negotiations on a new coalition government including the Christian Democrat party and the conservative VVD, which would be supported in parliament by Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party, are set to resume.

On Friday, Mr Wilders announced his withdrawal from the talks, but today the anti-Islam leader announced he was willing to resume negotiations after all. Both the Christian Democrats and VVD have reacted positively to the news.

After a meeting with his MPs, Mr Wilders announced on Tuesday morning that the Freedom Party wanted to resume the coalition negotiations. Last week, his party withdrew from the talks after Christian Democrat negotiator Ab Klink decided to quit saying that Mr Wilders would undermine freedom of religion and would harm the Dutch image abroad.

Two other Christian Democrat MPs were equally critical of the Freedom Party, which meant the envisaged coalition no longer had its one-seat majority in parliament. The Freedom Party then called the Christian Democrat party an unreliable partner, despite the fact that the its parliamentary party had unanimously decided to submit the negotiation results to all party members.

However, on Monday afternoon Ab Klink announced he had decided to resign his seat. The Freedom Party says it now sees sufficient grounds to resume the coalition negotiations. VVD leader Mark Rutte and Christian Democrat leader Maxime Verhagen say their parties also want to resume talks.

Queen Beatrix has had a series of meetings with the leaders of all parliamentary parties and other advisors. She has yet to announce who will be leading the new round of coalition talks.

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide