Security, judiciary, income disparities discussed in Dutch govt. formation talks

Negotiators for the VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks talked about security, the judiciary and income disparities on Tuesday during the negotiations on forming a new Dutch government. On Wednesday they will continue to discuss security. Experts in the field of security and defense were invited to the morning negotiation session, Het Parool reports.

"We talked about security. That is an important issue. We need to develop new ideas", D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said after Tuesday's negotiations. VVD negotiator Halbe Zijlstra added that income disparities were also on the table.

For Wednesday morning negotiation leader Edith Schippers invited four security experts to the negotiation table. These include Commander in Chief of the Dutch armed forces Tom Middendorp, and the heads of intelligence services AIVD and MIVD, Rob Bertholee and Onno Eichelsman respectively. Christiaan Rebergen, the highest official working on international cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will also attend.

Wednesday will also have an additional negotiation session in the evening, on top of the regular scheduled sessions in the morning and afternoon. It is not clear what will be discussed.