A large majority in the lower house of Dutch parliament supports the government's intention to sign the United Nations' new migration pact next week, was revealed in a debate on the matter on Tuesday.
In addition to coalition parties VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie, the pact is also supported by GroenLinks, PvdA and DENK, NU.nl reports PVV, 50Plus, SGP and FvD are against the pact. They fear that migrants may derive new rights form the pact. PvdD and SP are still considering.
A majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, supports a proposal by ruling party VVD to build more nuclear power plants in the Netherlands. Opponents worry about nuclear waste and what it will mean for future generations, NOS reports.
The VVD proposal was supported by the VVD, PVV, CDA and FvD. Proponents believe that the Netherlands can not afford to outright reject nuclear energy. But they also point out the disadvantages - nuclear waste, the construction of a nuclear plant is a long process, and it is an expensive source of energy.
Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs is facing the Tweede Kamer on Wednesday on statements he made about multicultural societies. He faced fierce criticism from the parliamentarians, including from coalition parties D66, CDA and ChristenUnie. Only populist parties PVV and FvD outright supported his remarks, NOS reports.
Debate center De Rode Hoed on Keizergracht in Amsterdam was vandalized overnight. The center's windows were broken and statements like 'Fuck FvD' and 'No fascism' were spray painted on its facade. On Friday evening populist party FvD is holding a lecture about the Brexit at De Rode Hoed, AT5 reports.
The police are investigating the vandalism.
The final results for Amsterdam's municipal elections are in. GroenLinks is the biggest party in the city, with 10 city council seats. And four parties will enter the Amsterdam city council for the first time - newcomers DENK, Bij1 and FVD, and ChristenUnie, AT5 and Het Parool report.
The seats in Amsterdam's city council are divided as follows:
With just a week to go until the municipal elections, both the D66 and GroenLinks have a solid chance to become the biggest party in Amsterdam. Both parties currently stand at 17 percent of Amsterdam votes - good for 9 seats in the city council, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond of Peil.nl, Het Parool reports.
Nine seats is an increase of three seats for GroenLinks, and a loss of 5 seats for the D66.The party that comes out the biggest after the municipal election on March 21st can take the lead in forming a new coalition.
Chief Public Prosecutor Bart Nieuwenhuizen calls on politicians to stop pressing charges against one another in order to get attention. These "fake, tampering and show declarations" cost the judiciary a lot of time, he wrote in his column on Omroep West.
Eleven Amsterdam political parties signed an agreement on Tuesday night aimed at strengthening the interests of the Jewish community in the Dutch capital. "With this agreement the parties state that the city will cherish its Jewish history and will care for its Jewish inhabitants", Ruben Vis, secretary of the organization for Jewish municipalities NIK and initiator of this agreement, said, Het Parool reports.
Yernaz Ramautarsing stepped down as candidate for nationalist party FvD in the Amsterdam municipal elections after a WhatsApp chat in which he supported the statement that gay rights made society dumber became public. He distanced himself from the statements in the WhatsApp chat and announced that he is stepping down in a statement on the FvD's website on Saturday.
The Public Prosecutor will not prosecute Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs for slander and defamation. FvD leader Thierry Baudet pressed charges against the Minister last month, but the Public Prosecutor determined that she committed no criminal offenses, the Prosecutor announced on Thursday.
Despite fierce resistance from opposition parties, a narrow majority in the Tweede Kamer supports the government's plan to abolish the advisory referendum. There will also be no referendum on this abolishment, AD reports.
Working with anti-Islam party PVV in his first cabinet was the biggest mistake Prime Minister Mark Rutte made in his career, Rutte said on television program WNL on Sunday.
Rutte added that he isn't saying he never should have done that "experiment", according to RTL Nieuws. "If the party is willing, with 24 seats, to become part of the power, then you have to try it", the Prime Minister said. According to him, things went well for 18 months "until it became stressful", and PVV leader Geert Wilders refused to take any responsibility.
Sylvanna Simons, leader of pro-diversity party Bij1, will avoid debates with new populist party FvD as much as possible in the run-up to the municipal elections in the Netherlands next month. It is "difficult to talk to people who hold certain ideas", she said to the Volkskrant on Sunday prior to a discussion between six potential new council members in Amsterdam arranged by the newspaper.
Minister Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs admitting that he lied about having a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, was met by fierce criticism from opposition parties in the Tweede Kamer. The coalition parties call his actions mainly "unwise", NOS reports.
New nationalist party FvD lost another member, the third this week. On Friday morning Susan Teunissen announced on Twitter that she canceled her membership to the party because she can not possibly conform to the course the FvD has taken. She also accused the party of being undemocratic.
"In view of the course that the FvD has taken and to which I can not possibly conform, I canceled my membership this morning. The way in which the party management deals with constructive criticism is far from democratic", Teunissen wrote on the social media platform.
Deputy Prime Minister Kasja Ollongren did not cross a line in her statements about new nationalist party FvD, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a letter to the Tweede Kamer on Thursday, AD reports.
New nationalist party FvD expelled two party members because they tried to seize power, Thierry Baudet's party said in a statement. The members involved are ex-senator Robert De Haze Winkelman and Betty Jo Wevers, both former members of ruling party VVD, ANP reports.
Thierry Baudet, leader of nationalist party FvD, pressed charges of defamation and slander against Deputy Prime Minister Kasja Ollongren after she accused him of involving race in the political debate last week.
The Amsterdam factions of left-wing parties PvdA and SP decided not to participate in the annual anti-racism demonstration in March. According to the parties, the purpose of this day is being overshadowed. Animal party PvdD also withdrew from the demonstration. And GroenLinks is considering withdrawing, according to Elsevier.
Campaigners for populist party Forum voor Democratie (FvD) were attacked while handing out pamphlets at a shopping center on Buikslotermeerplein in Amsterdam-Noord on Saturday. One of the people who was attacked is 71-year-old Hemmie Kerklingh, number six on the FvD's candidate list for the municipal election in Amsterdam in March, Het Parool reports.
An eyewitness told the newspaper that the attackers were shouting anti-fascist slogans like "not then, not now, never again fascists". Bystanders intervened and the three attackers fled. The police were also called to the scene.
FvD leader, and 2017's Dutch politician of the year, Thierry Baudet raised eyebrows by meeting with American racist and nationalist Jared Taylor. Baudet and Taylor spoke for hours in the Amsterdams hotel in October, De Correspondent reported on Wednesday. Baudet acknowledged this meeting, saying that he wanted to delve into the ideas of the far-right American 'alt-right' movement, ANP reports.
The last Peilingwijzer of the year shows that Geert Wilders and his anti-Islam PVV is facing increasing competition from new nationalist party FvD led by Thierry Baudet. The FvD leader was also named politician of the year by EenVandaag on Tuesday.
Almost all political parties in Amsterdam are in favor of extending the new Noord-Zuid subway line to Schiphol, and later further into Haarlemmermeer, was revealed during the first municipal election debate in Pakhuis De Zwijger on Monday. The debate focused on Schiphol and the harbor, Haarlems Dagblad reports.
Donald Trump's decision to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is "unwise and counterproductive", Minister Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs said to a delegation of the United States government in Brussels on Wednesday. The EU countries gave this same message to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during lunch. "This is going to reverse the peace process rather than moving it forward", Zijlstra said to NOS.
