The funeral for former Prime Minister Wim Kok will be held on Saturday, followed by a commemoration service in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw that same afternoon. Both services are for invited guests only, NU.nl reports.
Others who want to express their condolences can do so in an online condolence register. Letters and flowers are also welcome and can be sent to the funeral home.
Former United States President Bill Clinton mourns the death of former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok, he said in a statement published on his foundation's website. "Because of his modest manner and respectful way of dealing with people, Wim Kok's legacy is easy to underestimate in today's rough, conflict-ridden world. We should do well to avoid that temptation and study more closely what he did and how he did it", Clinton said
Former Prime Minister Wim Kok (PvdA) passed away after a long illness, his family revealed on Saturday. Over the weekend King Willem-Alexander and various politicians responded to his death. Kok was a well respected man to whom the Netherlands owes a great deal of gratitude, was the general theme of their reactions.
Former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok has died at the age of 80 years old after fighting a lengthy illness. He became the country's leader following the election in 1994, when he led Labour (PvdA) into a coalition with the conservative VVD and centrist D66 parties.
"Wim Kok was a man worth looking up to," said current Prime Minister Mark Rutte. "Completely reliable, perfectly honest and always focused on a solution," Rutte said of Kok. "He was a man with a great sense of responsibility who placed high demands on himself and on those people who worked with him."
Former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers passed away on Wednesday. He was in poor health for some time, a spokesperson for the 78-year-old CDA politician said. While other politicians knew that Lubbers was not doing well, they are still shocked by his death.
A change in leadership was confirmed on Friday at the top of the PvdA, the Labour Party of the Netherlands. The new party leader is current Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher, party chairman Hans Spekman announced in Amsterdam.
Asscher defeated Diederik Samsom by a nine percent margin, winning 54.5 percent of the vote. Asscher had decided fairly late in the process to challenge Samsom for the leadership.
Dutch officials and the Dutch railway company NS were poorly informed about the way of doing business in Belgium, which led to the cooperation with Belgium being "disastrous from day one". This is according to Arriën Kruyt, chairman of travelers association Rover, in the public hearing of the parliamentary committee of inquiry on the Fyra debacle today.
The 39-year old Bart van U., suspected of murdering former Minister Els Borst, reported himself several times at the Rotterdam police station two weeks before the murder, AD writes. He asked for help and the police to put him away or "otherwise it is not going to end well".
Just a few days before she died, former Minister Els Borst was visited at her home by an unknown, seemingly delusional man.
