Rutte will give farewell speech this afternoon before stepping down as Prime Minister

Mark Rutte will address the country from the Torentje at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, shortly before he steps down as Prime Minister. The speech will be a "farewell message to the Netherlands" and a look back at his almost 14 years as Prime Minister, reports the Government Information Service (RVD). The speech of more than ten minutes will be broadcast live by RTL and NOS, as well as the Prime Minister's social media channels.

It will be the third time Rutte has given a speech from his iconic office. He did this twice before in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. Before that, Prime Minister Joop den Uyl was the last to address the country from the Torentje. He gave a speech on the oil crisis in 1973.

Rutte led his first Cabinet in 2010 under a coalition of his party VVD and CDA, with the PVV's tacit support. The liberal politician would eventually lead four Cabinets and become the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history.

When he took office in 2010, he was immediately confronted with the euro crisis. Another decisive moment during his time in office was the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, which claimed many Dutch victims. The outgoing Prime Minister also proved to be a crisis manager during the coronavirus pandemic.

Rutte also came in for criticism during his years as Prime Minister. For example, he was often accused of intervening too late in the benefits affair and in cases of maladministration in connection with natural gas extraction in Groningen.

On Tuesday, the new Cabinet will emerge from the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB coalition. Rutte will then be replaced by the new Prime Minister, Dick Schoof.