parliamentary debate

The government of Curacao released a statement distancing itself from statements Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs made about multicultural societies. The island's government "deeply regrets" the statements, because as foreign minister Blok also speaks on behalf of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The Surinamese government would like Blok to apologize for his statements.

Minister Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs will face a critical Tweede Kamer on Tuesday. The lower house of Dutch parliament will discuss him lying about personally attending a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2006. Not only was he not at the meeting, but he also misinterpreted Putin's statements given to him by his source who was there, the source - former Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer told the Volkskrant.

An important department of the Dutch Tax Authority did not properly handle personal data of citizens and companies, according to several investigations into security in the Data & Analytics Department. As a result, the personal data of tens of thousands of Dutch leaked in various ways, including being sent to third parties or taken home by employees. The investigations also found that tax employees searched for information about individual tax payers, RTL Nieuws reports.

Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert of Defense will face the hardest parliamentary debate of her career on Tuesday afternoon. The Tweede Kamer will debate with her the conclusions of the Dutch Safety Board's investigation into a mortar grenade exploding during training in Mali last year, killing two Dutch soldiers. With parliamentarians being almost unanamously critical, the question is not only whether Hennis will survive this debate as Defense Minister, but also whether she will still have a position in the new Dutch government.

The PVV wants the Tweede Kamer to cut its summer recess short and return for a parliamentary debate on the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, PVV leader Geert Wilders said in a message to the other party leaders, which he also posted on Twitter. 

State Secretary Martijn van Dam of Economic Affairs is stepping down on September 1st to go to his new job at NPO, whether or not there's a new cabinet. His decision to go through with his planned departure despite the raging fipronil contaminated egg crisis, for which he partially carries responsibility, is leading to criticism from other politicians. Though the poultry sector itself is not sad to see him go, AD reports. 

Around 11:00 p.m. on Thursday the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, finished its last debate before the parliamentary election on March 15th. For many parliamentarians who are not on their party's new list of candidates, this was their last time speaking in the Kamer. The next debate will be held with new parliamentarians, the Telegraaf reports.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) more clearly expressed his rejection of Donald Trump closing the American borders to people from seven Muslim countries. He did so during a parliamentary debate on the entry ban and at the insistence of several other parties.

Fierce criticism and a motion of no confidence were what Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice faced on Wednesday in the parliamentary debate about his actions surrounding George Maat, the forensic scientist who was discredited after giving a lecture showing images of flight MH17 victims.

Amnesty International placed hundreds of "welcome" doormats on the Plein in The Hague on Thursday morning in a call on the Dutch government to receive refugees with open arms. This was done in preparation for the parliamentary debate on Thursday.

The third bailout package for Greece was approved by the lower house of parliament after a tense debate on Wednesday. A 90 seat majority, comprised of the VVD, PvdA, D66 and two members of the Group Kuzu/Ozturk decided that the government may say "yes" to the new 86 billion euro loan in Brussels.