THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct 27, (AP): The hard-right Dutch government announced unprecedented measures aimed at reining in migration, including a re-introduction of border checks, making the Netherlands the latest European nation to take a hardline stance against migration as anti-foreigner sentiment surges throughout much of the continent.

Among the measures that will be swiftly sent to parliament for approval are a move to restrict family members who can join a person who has been granted asylum in the Netherlands, cutting the length of temporary visas and declaring parts of civil war-ravaged Syria safe so that authorities can reject asylum applications from migrants from those regions. Syrians form the largest national group among migrants arriving in the Netherlands.

The announcement comes a week after European Union leaders looked at ways to tackle migration and turn the 27-nation bloc into a Fortress Europe after years of striking a more welcoming tone. Germany, one of the Netherlands’ neighbors, also recently reintroduced some border checks and the new French government has also pledged a hardline approach to migration.

"We want to make the Netherlands as unattractive as possible,” said Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber, who is a member of nationalist, anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders’ party that dominates the government. "Today is a beautiful day,” said Wilders. The powerful leader of his Party for Freedom hailed the measures as historic and "the toughest asylum policy ever.”

The Dutch Cabinet approved the package after Wilders and other party leaders held talks into the early hours to hammer out a compromise on how to enact the changes. The government also will scrap a law that obliged municipalities to house migrants. The association of Dutch municipalities said that the measures would "create chaos.” It said that "tasks should be fairly distributed among municipalities.”