Netherlands - July 2023

Mark Rutte, the longest-serving Prime Minister in the Netherlands, resigned on 8 July due to irreconcilable differences in opinion between the coalition parties on migration policy. Of the four parties in the 18-month-old coalition, Rutte’s Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democrats supported a stricter approach compared to D66 and the Christian Union (ChristenUnie). Specific issues debated included whether the rights of family members to join refugees should be restricted. A general election will be held in autumn. Until then, Rutte’s government will act in a caretaker capacity. The fragmented 20-party lower house, along with the rapid rise of the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement party in the March 2023 provincial elections, add another layer of uncertainty to the country’s political future. 

Sources: DutchNews, Euronews, New York Times, Guardian, NL Times 

Sigrid Kaag, the first female Finance Minister of the Netherlands and leader of the D66 party, announced on 13 July that she is stepping down from both positions. In her farewell speech, she cited “hate, intimidation and threats” as the reasons for her decision, adding that the situation took a large toll on her family. Kaag has been the target of misogyny and her family has been the target of racism. According to a 2021 study by Utrecht University and De Groene Amsterdammer, Kaag receives the most hate messages among all female MPs in the Dutch Parliament, with 22 per cent of her incoming tweets being hateful in nature. Kaag hopes that her move to step down “does not discourage Dutch girls and women from entering politics.” Independent MP Liane den Haan also announced her departure from politics due to hate messages. Both resignations come in the aftermath of the Dutch government collapse on 8 July. 

Sources: Politico, De Groene Amsterdammer, Euractiv, EUROMIX Research Project 

The caretaker cabinet has introduced a specific criminal prohibition of the condonement, trivialization and denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, with explicit reference to the Holocaust. The law punishes violations with a prison sentence of up to one year and implements a 2008 European Union Framework Decision seeking uniformity in national legislation on historical denialism. The importance of this ban is underlined by a rise in antisemitism in the Netherlands in recent years. A study published in January 2023 by the nonprofit Claims Conference revealed that almost a quarter of Dutch citizens born after 1980 believe that the Holocaust is a myth or that it has been greatly exaggerated. Before 1939, almost 150,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands, around 75 per cent of whom were murdered.  

Sources:  Government of the Netherlands, European Parliament, Claims Conference, Reuters, DutchNews