Parliamentarians from both opposition and coalition parties expressed concerns about increasingly intimidating anti-abortion, anti-choice demonstrations at abortion clinics in the Netherlands. Oppositions parties GroenLinks, PvdA, SP, PvdD and 50Plus and ruling party VVD issued a joint call to protect women's right to safely choose abortion, NOS and RTL Nieuws report.
VVD
May 29 '19 13:20
Nearly half of the politicians who will soon represent the Netherlands in the new European Parliament are women. Of the total 26 Dutch European Parliamentarians, 12 are women. At 46.2 percent it is the highest percentage of female Dutch MEPs since 2009, NOS reports, and an increase from 34.6 percent.
May 29 '19 09:15
The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, wants Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security to create a legislative proposal to ban gay conversion therapy. Parliamentarians called such "cures"' for one's sexuality "indigestible" and "harmful", the Telegraaf reports.
This VVD proposal got support from a majority in the Kamer, including from the D66, GroenLinks, SP and PvdA. Christian parties CDA, ChristenUnie and SGP, and populists PVV and FvD voted against.
May 27 '19 07:41
Almost all the votes in the European Parliament elections have been counted. As exit polls predicted, the PvdA is the big winner in the Netherlands. While the exit polls said Labour would get five seats, the party now stands at six. Populist PVV and socialists SP walk away with no seats, RTL Nieuws reports.
May 24 '19 07:53
PVV leader Geert Wilders is disappointed by the exit polls results for the European Parliament elections. His anti-EU party received 4.1 percent of the votes, compared to 13.3 percent in the previous European elections. That means that his PVV will lose three of its four seats.
May 23 '19 13:10
A majority of the Amsterdam city council wants to investigate whether it can get a "decent" competitor for Airbnb and Booking.com on the market that does adhere to the city's rules on holiday rentals, was revealed during a council meeting on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.
May 23 '19 08:28
The leaders of right-wing VVD and far-right FvD debated each other in the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam on Wednesday evening, the eve of the European Parliament elections in the Netherlands on Thursday. The sometimes fierce debate ranged from topics like leaving the euro to FvD leader Thierry Baudet's stance on women and the last time VVD leader Mark Rutte shed a tear. Baudet accused Rutte of "fear mongering" and Rutte called Baudet a "Russia lover", RTL Nieuws reports.
May 22 '19 08:04
Mark Harbers resigned as State Secretary for Justice and Security on Tuesday evening. The VVD State Secretary, who is responsible for asylum, stepped down after it became known that his Ministry deliberately reported incomplete figures on crimes committed by asylum seekers in a report.
May 20 '19 13:00
FvD leader Thierry Baudet is facing criticism from other party leaders over a video he posted on Twitter. The video features women telling how they were sexually assaulted or raped by migrants and blaming politicians who "refuse to protect our borders", showing photos of GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver, VVD leader Mark Rutte and D66 leader Rob Jetten at the end.
May 20 '19 12:10
VVD leader Mark Rutte and Forum voor Democratie leader Thierry Baudet will face off against each other in a debate on television program Pauw on NPO on Wednesday evening. No one else is invited to participate in the debate. Other parties, particularly left-wing GroenLinks and PvdA, are annoyed that only the right and far-right will be represented in this debate on the eve of the European Parliament elections, which are being held in the Netherlands on Thursday.
May 16 '19 08:40
In the run-up to the European Parliament elections next week, Prime Minister Mark Rutte is talking about his vision for Europe. According to the VVD leader, his ideas about that have shifted. "Europe is market and currency, but a point has been added", he said to Nieuwsuur on Wednesday night. That point is safety. Without the European Union, the Netherlands is just a small country on its own in a big and increasingly volatile world.
May 15 '19 08:44
Forum voor Democratie leader Thierry Baudet is taking an "irresponsible risk with our security, our stability, and our prosperity" with his positive attitude towards the Netherlands leaving the European Union, VVD leader and Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a speech about Europe on Tuesday, NOS reports.
May 1 '19 16:30
The rainbow crosswalk in Hardewijk was vandalized. A seemingly religious message was found spray painted on the crossing on Wednesday morning. "Sodom and Gomorrah are still there as a warning example", the text read, translated from Dutch. And: "Choose life."
Martijn Pijnenburg, D66 leader in Hardewijk, posted photos of the vandalism on Twitter "The rainbow crosswalk in Hardewijk smeared with religious insanity", he tweeted. "In one word: disgusting."
The municipality removed the text later on Wednesday morning.
May 1 '19 15:40
American preacher Steven Anderson will not be allowed into the Netherlands and the rest of the Schengen area, State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security said on Wednesday in response to parliamentary questions. According to Harbers, the government is "taking strong action against extremist speakers who, by spreading their beliefs, restrict the freedoms of others or even incite hatred or violence", NOS reports.
Apr 25 '19 10:10
A majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, want the number of night flights at Schiphol to be reduced. Some parties even want night flights to be scrapped completely. The Kamer will discuss aviation with Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management on Thursday, RTL Nieuws reports.
Apr 25 '19 08:59
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema and a majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, are all against extremist Christian preacher Steven Anderson visiting the Netherlands. The American preacher plans to do some "soul winning" and give a sermon in Amsterdam on May 23rd.
Apr 24 '19 12:40
Prime Minister Mark Rutte thinks that we should not go too crazy with taking climate measures. "We still have to live a good life", he said in the Ochtend Show to go on Thursday morning, AD reports. "We still have to be able to barbecue."
Apr 24 '19 11:50
A legislative proposal submitted by the VVD and GroenLinks wants to fine people who enter into a religious marriage, specifically an Islamic marriage, before they are legally married. By tightening the rules, the parties hope to prevent women being left without options if there is a divorce, NOS reports.
Apr 4 '19 08:40
Minister Sander Dakker for Legal Protection acknowledged in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday that he bears political responsibility for mistakes made in the treatment of Michael P., the man who raped and murdered 25-year-old Anne Faber from Utrecht in 2017. At the same time he asked parliament to trust him to also solve the problems. He survived the debate, NU.nl reports.
"I feel the responsibility in my every fiber", Dekker said. "One of my most important tasks is to protect society from people like Michael P."
Mar 25 '19 07:44
"Unacceptable", Prime Minister Mark Rutte said about threats made against FvD leader Thierry Baudet after the nationalist party's major win in the Provincial States elections last week. All politicians must be able to perform their duties in safety and freedom, Rutte said to the Telegraaf. "Democracy is not easy, but it is a valuable possession.
Mar 22 '19 09:19
Rotterdam is introducing a limited fireworks ban from this New Year's. Neighborhoods where things got out of hand and there were firework related incidents in the past, will be banned from lighting fireworks on New Year's. While quiet neighborhoods will still be allowed to do so, the city council decided on Thursday night, RTV Rijnmond reports.
Mar 21 '19 09:03
FvD received the most votes in the Provincial States election, according to a provisional forecast from news wire ANP. Over 93 percent of the votes have been counted. Thierry Baudet's nationalist party will get 12 seats in the Senate, the same number as ruling party VVD. GroenLinks also had a major victory, ending with 9 seats in the Eerste Kamer.
Mar 21 '19 08:04
FvD leader Thierry Baudet believes that his party's victory in the Provincial States election is punishment for the "arrogance and stupidity" of the Netherlands' current leaders. In his victory speech he emphasized that FvD is now one of the largest parties in the country, and that a change has been set in motion. "Economic and political capitulation is coming to an end", he said, NOS reports.
Mar 20 '19 23:00
Voter turnout was up substantially in the country's provincial election on Wednesday, compared with turnout in 2015. Some 57.9 percent of eligible voters showed up at polling places, up from 47.8 percent four years earlier, according to RTL Nieuws.
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