Mark Rutte, leader of the pro-market Liberals, known as the VVD, became prime minister, the first time his party has held the country’s top political post since 1918.

The alliance of the VVD and the Christian Democratic Appeal signaled a continuing shift to the right for a country long known for its generous social welfare policies.

But the two parties cannot form a majority coalition and have turned to firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders for support. It is the first minority coalition in the Netherlands since World War II.

Wilders, currently on trial for hate speech, agreed to prop up the coalition in crucial votes. His support gives Rutte’s government the slimmest-possible majority — one seat — in parliament’s 150-seat lower house.

In return, Rutte agreed to clamp down on immigration by tightening asylum procedures and making it harder for new immigrants to bring their families to the Netherlands. He also plans to pursue laws banning face-covering burqas and force immigrants to pay for their own mandatory citizenship classes.

Rutte, 43, a former human resources manager at Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever, has been criticized for including only three women in his new Cabinet.

Because his Freedom Party is not officially part of the Cabinet, Wilders was not present at the Huis Ten Bosch Palace on the outskirts of The Hague when the queen swore in the new administration on Thursday.

Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said he would make sure his Cabinet colleagues rein in spending during the government’s four-year term — Rutte has pledged to slash €18 billion ($25 billion) in government spending.