Negotiations to form a coalition in the Netherlands have collapsed after the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, walked out.
Mr Wilders said he did not trust some members of the Christian Democrats to adhere to any agreement reached.
Some Christian Democrats have expressed deep reservations about any deal with Mr Wilders because of his strong anti-Islamic and anti-immigration views.
“The negotiations did not succeed,” Mark Rutte, leader of the centre-right Liberal Party (VVD), told a news conference at the Hague.
Update: See also “‘Relief’ as Wilders-backed Dutch coalition fails”, AFP, 4 September 2010