No govt. formation talks today; Jesse Klaver's mom in hospital

There will be no government formation talks between the VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks on Thursday because GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver's mother was admitted to hospital. Her condition is worrying, Klaver told negotiation leader Edith Schippers on Wednesday. The other parties therefore decided to temporarily suspend the negotiations, NU.nl reports.

Klaver had to suddenly walk out of the morning negotiation session on Wednesday when he got the news that his mother had been hospitalized. GroenLinks parliamentarian and former leader Bram van Oijk took his place at the negotiation table. On Wednesday the parties talked to various security experts. The content of those discussions was not revealed.

Negotiations will resume next week Tuesday, after the Easter weekend.

On Wednesday Schippers said that the four parties are already "firmly in negotiations" on a number of points. According to her, there is an incorrect perception that the negotiators are still only exploring. But in some areas the parties are "already several steps further", Schippers said, according to NU.nl. The atmosphere is "very good", but not everything is easy. "This is really going to take some time."

The four parties are "genuinely" working to reach a coalition agreement together, Schippers added. "That's difficult, because they are very different parties. And whether that will ultimately succeed, we'll have to wait and see." She added that if there was no trust or confidence, she would immediately advice the negotiations to be halted.