| Welcome to the weekend issue of Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. Join us on Saturdays for deeper dives from our bureaus across Europe. AMSTERDAM — The Netherlands has long been a fixture at the World Economic Forum in Davos with many cabinet members attending alongside the prime minister. This year, however, Dutch attendance will be noticeably scaled back, largely driven by pushback from far-right party leader Geert Wilders, who helms the ruling coalition. The country is sending the lowest number of cabinet members in more than a decade to the event, which starts Monday. Wilders last week posted on social media that no government official affiliated with his party would attend. Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Dirk Beljaarts, a member of the Wilders' Party for Freedom, had initially planned to be in Davos, but then pulled out. A spokesperson cited a busy schedule and other commitments. Local news outlets reported he was barred from attending because Wilders didn't grant permission. At the 2024 gathering, then-premier Mark Rutte attended with five other ministers, including Beljaarts' predecessor. This year, Prime Minister Dick Schoof will bring along only two ministers. Wilders, a vocal eurosceptic, has been blasting the Davos conference for years. When a record number of Dutch cabinet members were set to attend in 2023, Wilders complained that the country's parliament canceled debates so that "globalists" would "be able to discuss us in secret." Schoof, a former spy chief who was a compromise choice to lead the government and doesn't belong to a political party, is sticking with his travel plans. "I am there myself because I think it is important for the Netherlands," he said. Wilders' party secured the most seats in the November 2023 elections, but the politician was forced to abandon his bid to become prime minister in order to forge alliances to form the most right-wing government in decades. Wilders, who is sometimes called the Dutch Donald Trump, isn't the only political figure who dislikes the event. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan extended the country's Gaza war-related boycott of the forum for another year, with top economic officials set to skip this month's gathering. — Cagan Koc, Amsterdam bureau chief LIVE FROM DAVOS: Get the Economics Daily newsletter for full on-the-ground coverage of the World Economic Forum. | 
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