Politics of the Netherlands

Joram van Klaveren spent several years serving far-right and anti-Islam politics in the Netherlands. But van Klaveren, once a right-hand man to Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, took the world by surprise when he announced his conversion to Islam recently.

The Hague, 22 June 2018 (MIA) - The Dutch parliament blocked on Thursday (21 June) the opening of EU accession negotiations with Albania. The EU summit will decide on 28-29 June whether to open negotiations with Macedonia and Albania. All decisions concerning the EU accession process are decided at the EU level with unanimity, which means that any member country can block the process.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A new nationalist party led by a self-styled intellectual won two seats in Amsterdam in Dutch municipal elections seen as heralding the fragmentation of the country's far right.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on March 20 praised Turkey for sticking to an EU-Turkey refugee agreement in countering irregular migration and improving the living conditions of Syrian refugees.

Dutch MPs rejected a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Mark Rutte, after the resignation of Foreign Minister Halbe Zeister. 101 MPs opposed the vote of mistrust, and only 43 MPs supported it. It was brought by Gert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch right-wing Party of Freedom.

Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra resigned on Feb. 13 after admitting lying, triggering a political bombshell and a vote of no-confidence in the country’s prime minister.

Turkey has sufficient grounds for self-defense since the country faced attacks, Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra said on Jan. 23.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has expressed his desire to fix “cold relations” between his country and Turkey.

Romania has put the finishing touches to a plan to overhaul the judiciary that critics say erodes judicial independence and which will have to be discussed with the European Union, reported Reuters. 

When the scheme was first outlined in August, Brussels asked government for more details, expressing concern it may be a step backwards in the country's fight against corruption.

Almost 208 days after the election, four parties reached an agreement to form the new government of the Netherlands, Deutsche Welle reports.

It will include the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (NPSP) of Prime Minister Mark Ruthe, Christian Democratic Appeal, Democrats 66, and Christian Union.