Prime Minister Schoof confirms he will leave Torentje at the end of the month

Prime Minister Dick Schoof will leave the Torentje at the end of August, as he confirmed on the talk show Humberto à Paris. By order of the fire department, the Prime Minister's workplace and the adjacent Ministry of General Affairs must be evacuated as there is a fire hazard. However, there is still discussion about information security, among other things.

The Mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, had asked the Prime Minister to vacate the quarters in the old Binnenhof, but Schoof's Ministry did not want to do so immediately and took its time. This is because the Ministry of the Interior's building, where Schoof's department has to move temporarily, has proven not to be secure enough to handle state secrets.

Although there is no solution for this yet, Schoof says he will move before the end of the month. "I will move out of the Torentje," he said firmly.

Schoof and his civil servants are still the last residents of the Binnenhof, which is currently undergoing extensive renovations. The Senate and the Tweede Kamer are already housed in other buildings. In July, it was announced that the Prime Minister and his ministry would be fined 100,000 euros per week, up to a maximum of 1 million euros, if they did not vacate their premises by the end of August.

The renovation is expected to be completed by the end of 2028, but the then Minister of the Interior Hugo de Jonge did not dare say that with certainty in May this year. The price tag is currently estimated at around 2 billion euros.