Benelux leaders to meet in Netherlands on Monday

Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be receiving the parliamentary chairman of Belgium and Luxembourg, Siegfried Bracke and Mars Di Bartolomeo, on Monday. The leaders will discuss cooperation within the Benelux and the EU presidency of Luxembourg and the Netherlands. They will also talk about the European Commission's plans to redistribute asylum seekers entering Europe through the southern EU nations. The Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany want to reach a new arrangement on these plans. Rutte said that the Netherlands is not trying to sidestep its duty to Europe, but wants to find a way to guarantee that other countries are also fulfilling their responsibilities. The Benelux leaders are visiting the Netherlands on June 14th and 15th at the invitation of Tweede Kamer president Anouchka van Miltenburg. In addition to the meeting with the Prime Minister, they will also visit the National Archive and speak with various other Parliamentarians.