King appoints politicians Timmermans, Remkes, and De Graaf as Ministers of State

King Willem-Alexander appointed three long-time politicians as Ministers of State on Friday. Frans Timmermans, Johan Remkes, and Thom de Graaf were appointed in "appreciation of their long-standing and exceptional services to public administration and Dutch society," according to a government statement.

Ministers of State can be asked for advice by the government. They are also sometimes deployed to represent the Cabinet at home and abroad, for example at state funerals.

The number of Ministers of State has recently declined, Prime Minister Rob Jetten said at his weekly press conference. Last year, two Ministers of State passed away, namely Hans van den Broek and Frits Korthals Altes.

Until last November, Timmermans was party leader of the merged GroenLinks-PvdA party. Prior to that, he was a European Commissioner, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has "distinguished himself nationally and internationally in public service," Jetten's General Affairs Ministry wrote on Friday.

Timmermans has an "enormous track record" as parliamentarian, a minister, and European Commission vice-president, Jetten said.

Remkes (VVD) has held many different administrative positions throughout his career. Among other roles, he served as Minister of the Interior, King's Commissioner for Noord-Holland, and has assisted in the formation of several coalition governments. He has also served chair of various advisory committees, including the commission that advised the Cabinet in 2022 about how the Netherlands should emerge from the nitrogen emissions crisis.

D66 member De Graaf was Vice-Chairman of the Council of State until July 1. He also previously served as the mayor of Nijmegen and has been the Minister for Administrative Reform and Kingdom Relations.

With the three new appointments, there are now a total of nine Ministers of State, including former Deputy Chairman of the Council of State Herman Tjeenk Willink, former NATO head and CDA minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and former CDA Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.