Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's fourth government was sworn in on Monday, a record 299 days after the last election and a year after his previous administration was forced to resign, with the coronavirus crisis looming over a big spending push.
The new coalition has promised generous spending on sustainable energy, housing, childcare and education, but will first have to deal with the health crisis as the Omicron variant has pushed coronavirus infections to record levels
Read more at:
New Dutch government sworn in 10 months after last election | Reuters
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Showing posts with label Mark Rutte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Rutte. Show all posts
December 19, 2021
The Netherlands: Covid: Dutch go into Christmas lockdown over Omicron wave
The Netherlands has announced a strict lockdown over Christmas amid concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Non-essential shops, bars, gyms hairdressers and other public venues will be closed until at least mid-January. Two guests per household will be allowed - four over the holidays.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the measures were "unavoidable".
Countries across Europe have been tightening restrictions as the heavily mutated variant spreads.
The new rules in the Netherlands - the strictest to have been announced over Omicron so far - come into force on Sunday.
"I stand here tonight in a sombre mood And a lot of people watching will feel that way too," Mr Rutte told a news conference on Saturday. "To sum it up in one sentence, the Netherlands will go back into lockdown from tomorrow."
Read more at: Covid: Dutch go into Christmas lockdown over Omicron wave - BBC News
Non-essential shops, bars, gyms hairdressers and other public venues will be closed until at least mid-January. Two guests per household will be allowed - four over the holidays.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the measures were "unavoidable".
Countries across Europe have been tightening restrictions as the heavily mutated variant spreads.
The new rules in the Netherlands - the strictest to have been announced over Omicron so far - come into force on Sunday.
"I stand here tonight in a sombre mood And a lot of people watching will feel that way too," Mr Rutte told a news conference on Saturday. "To sum it up in one sentence, the Netherlands will go back into lockdown from tomorrow."
Read more at: Covid: Dutch go into Christmas lockdown over Omicron wave - BBC News
November 25, 2021
‘The Netherlands: A lot of work to do’: Dutch government formation talks drag on for record 226 days
Government formation talks in the Netherlands have become the longest on record, 226 days after the 17 March elections delivered a fractured political landscape that made parties more reluctant than ever to compromise.
Dutch government coalitions often take months to form, but this year’s post-election talks have been especially drawn out. For months, parties failed to even move beyond the question of who would be allowed at the negotiation table.
Meanwhile, pressing matters such as climate change, health care and the strained housing market have been left untouched.
“It’s remarkable,” said political historian and cabinet formation expert Carla van Baalen. “We have never seen a situation in which no real talks were held for months following the elections.”
Read more at: ‘A lot of work to do’: Dutch government formation talks drag on for record 226 days | Netherlands | The Guardian
Dutch government coalitions often take months to form, but this year’s post-election talks have been especially drawn out. For months, parties failed to even move beyond the question of who would be allowed at the negotiation table.
Meanwhile, pressing matters such as climate change, health care and the strained housing market have been left untouched.
“It’s remarkable,” said political historian and cabinet formation expert Carla van Baalen. “We have never seen a situation in which no real talks were held for months following the elections.”
Read more at: ‘A lot of work to do’: Dutch government formation talks drag on for record 226 days | Netherlands | The Guardian
September 1, 2021
The Netherlands: Dutch coalition talks deadlocked 5 months after election
The Netherlands appeared to be heading toward talks to form a minority coalition after efforts to piece together a Cabinet made up of five parties from across the political spectrum broke down Tuesday.
More than five months after a general election left the Dutch political landscape fragmented, two key parties said they do not want to form a new government with a pair of leftist parties.
The decision by caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy — known by its Dutch acronym VVD — and the CDA Christian Democrats came after months of talks between party leaders and an official who is attempting to cobble together the coalition.
Read more at: Dutch coalition talks deadlocked 5 months after election
More than five months after a general election left the Dutch political landscape fragmented, two key parties said they do not want to form a new government with a pair of leftist parties.
The decision by caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy — known by its Dutch acronym VVD — and the CDA Christian Democrats came after months of talks between party leaders and an official who is attempting to cobble together the coalition.
Read more at: Dutch coalition talks deadlocked 5 months after election
August 21, 2021
The Netherlandsand Afghanistan Fiasco: Over 700 Dutch still stuck in Afghanistan
There are currently more than seven hundred people with a Dutch passport in Afghanistan. That is what Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag said on Friday before the Council of Ministers.
According to Kaag, this concerns "many people who appear to have gone on a family visit", despite the "clear travel advice" that applied to Afghanistan. "We have to get them back," said Kaag. This is still separate from Afghans who worked for the Netherlands and who the Netherlands is also trying to evacuate. They are at risk now that the Taliban is ruling the country.
Read more at: Over 700 Dutch still stuck in Afghanistan | NL Times
According to Kaag, this concerns "many people who appear to have gone on a family visit", despite the "clear travel advice" that applied to Afghanistan. "We have to get them back," said Kaag. This is still separate from Afghans who worked for the Netherlands and who the Netherlands is also trying to evacuate. They are at risk now that the Taliban is ruling the country.
Read more at: Over 700 Dutch still stuck in Afghanistan | NL Times
June 27, 2021
The Netherlands: Dutch leader Mark Rutte tells Hungary’s Orban: If you don’t like LGBT rights, you can leave the E.U. - by Adam Taylor
The dispute between a number of European Union leaders and Hungary over LGBT rights grew emotional after a meeting on Thursday, with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s peers warning him that there was no place for discrimination in the bloc.
“If you don’t like it, there is also an alternative: Leave the Union,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Orban, he recalled to reporters after the meeting.
Read more at: Dutch leader Mark Rutte tells Hungary’s Orban: If you don’t like LGBT rights, you can leave the E.U. - The Washington Post
“If you don’t like it, there is also an alternative: Leave the Union,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Orban, he recalled to reporters after the meeting.
Read more at: Dutch leader Mark Rutte tells Hungary’s Orban: If you don’t like LGBT rights, you can leave the E.U. - The Washington Post
March 10, 2021
The Netherlands: Lessons from the Netherlands on staying in power
Ask Dutch people about Mark Rutte, their prime minister since 2010, and they recite the ritual Dutch paean to any hero who remains “normaal”: how the eternal bachelor lives in an ordinary flat, having refused to move into the official residence; how he doesn’t even have a coffee machine, just a kettle; how he cycles to work, teaches social studies once a week at a high school in an immigrant neighbourhood of The Hague and, finally, has no noticeable political beliefs. Rutte himself, a Germanophile, likes to quote the late West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt: “Anyone having visions should see a doctor.”
Read more at: Lessons from the Netherlands on staying in power | Financial Times
Read more at: Lessons from the Netherlands on staying in power | Financial Times
January 17, 2021
The Netherlands: "If we reelect Mark Rutte "the Dutch political Houdini" we don't deserve any better" - by Johan Fretz
The fall of the Rutte III cabinet took place in such a slow motion that its impact was spread out over a week. That was precisely Rutte's intention: if you move more slowly towards the ground, the impact will be less hard. Even in his own fall, Rutte remained the merciless strategist. If there was no other option, then only with as little damage to himself as possible.
Earlier this week, he had put on the table a sample of genuine “Rutlet logic”. Before the Christmas holidays, he had pretended that he thought it was all so intense and had to deal with it first. Now, after the holidays, he said that stepping down was a thing of the past. He may have thought we were all stupid and blame him: he has never been punished for anything in ten years. But the dynamics suddenly changed rapidly.
Lodewijk Asscher of thr PVDA labor party, the only one who had said aloud since the beginning that he felt shame and regret about his part in the benefits affair, still resigned. As is so often the case, it is the politicians who prefer integrity over power who pay the highest price, even though Asscher's choice was very justified and inevitable.
In looking back on his years in The Hague, he will have to reflect on the fact that he and his party entered Rutte II so indiscriminately, a cabinet that aimed to develop the public sector and human scale and in which it was established from the outset that such accidents would happen. That is why support for Asscher has crumbled so quickly in recent weeks: the affair reminded many voters how angry they were about this fatal government participation.
Even after Asscher's departure, Rutte continued to stop the fall of his cabinet behind the scenes. After all, it was not necessary from his VVD party viewpoint, and he undoubtedly felt strengthened by the voters behind the forty polled seats, who don't give a damn. But on Friday, Rutte solemnly said at the press conference: “We had to take responsibility,” as if it came from his deep inside. Those who listened more closely heard his cunning again: "Of course, it is always my ultimate responsibility in the end." In other words, I, the Good Samaritan, now fall for other people's sins, but have clean hands myself.What Typical Rutte B.S.
Political reality and public pressure can force a cabinet's resignation, but what they clearly cannot enforce is an inner realization in those responsible that they have failed morally. Mark Rutte does not resign out of regret or shame. He resigns because he had no other option. In doing so he devalues the symbolic value of the fall, which if it had been sincere could have contributed to the healing and the initial restoration of trust in the institutions.
Now our political Houdini PM has again freed himself from the chains underwater and has escaped from the steel box. On March 17 last year, he happily emerges, with that tirelessly cheerful grin that for ten years has kept others from seeing his brutal politics of hollowing out and reckoning behind it. Do we deserve better? If we re-elect him or not ?
Read more in the original Dutch version of "Het Parool" from where this translated version came: Als we Rutte opnieuw herverkiezen, verdienen we niet beter | Het Parool
Earlier this week, he had put on the table a sample of genuine “Rutlet logic”. Before the Christmas holidays, he had pretended that he thought it was all so intense and had to deal with it first. Now, after the holidays, he said that stepping down was a thing of the past. He may have thought we were all stupid and blame him: he has never been punished for anything in ten years. But the dynamics suddenly changed rapidly.
Lodewijk Asscher of thr PVDA labor party, the only one who had said aloud since the beginning that he felt shame and regret about his part in the benefits affair, still resigned. As is so often the case, it is the politicians who prefer integrity over power who pay the highest price, even though Asscher's choice was very justified and inevitable.
In looking back on his years in The Hague, he will have to reflect on the fact that he and his party entered Rutte II so indiscriminately, a cabinet that aimed to develop the public sector and human scale and in which it was established from the outset that such accidents would happen. That is why support for Asscher has crumbled so quickly in recent weeks: the affair reminded many voters how angry they were about this fatal government participation.
Even after Asscher's departure, Rutte continued to stop the fall of his cabinet behind the scenes. After all, it was not necessary from his VVD party viewpoint, and he undoubtedly felt strengthened by the voters behind the forty polled seats, who don't give a damn. But on Friday, Rutte solemnly said at the press conference: “We had to take responsibility,” as if it came from his deep inside. Those who listened more closely heard his cunning again: "Of course, it is always my ultimate responsibility in the end." In other words, I, the Good Samaritan, now fall for other people's sins, but have clean hands myself.What Typical Rutte B.S.
Political reality and public pressure can force a cabinet's resignation, but what they clearly cannot enforce is an inner realization in those responsible that they have failed morally. Mark Rutte does not resign out of regret or shame. He resigns because he had no other option. In doing so he devalues the symbolic value of the fall, which if it had been sincere could have contributed to the healing and the initial restoration of trust in the institutions.
Now our political Houdini PM has again freed himself from the chains underwater and has escaped from the steel box. On March 17 last year, he happily emerges, with that tirelessly cheerful grin that for ten years has kept others from seeing his brutal politics of hollowing out and reckoning behind it. Do we deserve better? If we re-elect him or not ?
Read more in the original Dutch version of "Het Parool" from where this translated version came: Als we Rutte opnieuw herverkiezen, verdienen we niet beter | Het Parool
January 15, 2021
The Netherlands: Dutch government quits over 'colossal stain' of tax subsidy scandal - by Stephanie van den Berg
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government resigned on Friday, accepting responsibility for wrongful accusations of fraud by the tax authorities that drove thousands of families to financial ruin, often on the basis of ethnicity.
Read more at: Dutch government quits over 'colossal stain' of tax subsidy scandal | Reuters
Read more at: Dutch government quits over 'colossal stain' of tax subsidy scandal | Reuters
December 16, 2020
The Netherlands: Reactions to Rutte's 5-week coronavirus lockdown in the Netherlands
Speaking from his official office in The Hague, Prime Minister Mark Rutte addressed the people of the Netherlands and, before announcing the new measures that would place in the country under lockdown, delivered a speech that served to remind the public of the severity of the situation and the importance of following the rules.
Almost 8,4 million people tuned in to listen to what the Prime Minister had to say - the highest number of viewers ever garnered by a coronavirus press conference or speech. Nearly 90 percent of all the people who were watching TV on Monday evening were watching Rutte’s speech.
People may have been eager to hear what Rutte had to say, but how have people responded to the strict lockdown measures that have been introduced just before the Christmas holidays?
Read more at: Reactions to Rutte's 5-week coronavirus lockdown in the Netherlands
Almost 8,4 million people tuned in to listen to what the Prime Minister had to say - the highest number of viewers ever garnered by a coronavirus press conference or speech. Nearly 90 percent of all the people who were watching TV on Monday evening were watching Rutte’s speech.
People may have been eager to hear what Rutte had to say, but how have people responded to the strict lockdown measures that have been introduced just before the Christmas holidays?
Read more at: Reactions to Rutte's 5-week coronavirus lockdown in the Netherlands
November 15, 2020
The Netherlands: Dutch PM Rutte to seek fourth term
Liberal Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has confirmed he will seek a fourth term in office, wanting to continue steering the Netherlands through the coronavirus pandemic.
Dutch elections are set for March 17 next year.
Read more at: Dutch PM Rutte to seek fourth term | Macau Business
Dutch elections are set for March 17 next year.
Read more at: Dutch PM Rutte to seek fourth term | Macau Business
October 28, 2020
The Netherlands: Current coronavirus rules will last well into December, Dutch prime minister says
The partial lockdown imposed in the Netherlands two weeks ago will last deep into December, prime minister Mark Rutte and health minister Hugo de Jonge told reporters on Tuesday evening.
‘You can assume that you will celebrate Sinterklaas in a small group, with no more than three people from outside your household,’ Rutte said. ‘It is still too early to say about Christmas.’ Ministers are also working on new recommendations for holiday travel, both in the Netherlands and abroad, and that could be published as early as later this week, Rutte said.
Read more at: Current coronavirus rules will last well into December, Dutch prime minister says - DutchNews.nl
‘You can assume that you will celebrate Sinterklaas in a small group, with no more than three people from outside your household,’ Rutte said. ‘It is still too early to say about Christmas.’ Ministers are also working on new recommendations for holiday travel, both in the Netherlands and abroad, and that could be published as early as later this week, Rutte said.
Read more at: Current coronavirus rules will last well into December, Dutch prime minister says - DutchNews.nl
October 10, 2020
The Netherlands: Dutch coronavirus figures are 'very bad', Rutte says. Weekend will be crucial
New coronavirus measures cannot be avoided in the Netherlands if there is no improvement in the number of new infections in the coming 24 to 72 hours, prime minister Mark Rutte told reporters after the weekly cabinet
conference on Friday.
The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands continues to rise, with a further 5,983 cases registered with public health institute RIVM in the 24 hours to Friday morning.
Although the increase on Thursday’s total is 154, well down on the shock 800 increase between Wednesday and Thursday, Rutte said that officials need to see something ‘positive’ in the coming period. ‘I will want to know from experts what the weekend figures say.
The Netherlands now has one of the worst infection rates in Europe, and this has received widespread coverage in the foreign press.
The figures, Rutte said, are ‘very bad.’ ‘People are faced with not having the operation they expected, more people will die, are worried about jobs and loneliness… and that is because we are not taking the basic rules seriously,’ he said.
By Friday a further 69 people had been admitted to hospital, taking the total to 1,139, of whom 239 are in intensive care.
Read more at:
Dutch coronavirus figures are 'very bad', Rutte says. Weekend will be crucial - DutchNews.nl
conference on Friday.
The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands continues to rise, with a further 5,983 cases registered with public health institute RIVM in the 24 hours to Friday morning.
Although the increase on Thursday’s total is 154, well down on the shock 800 increase between Wednesday and Thursday, Rutte said that officials need to see something ‘positive’ in the coming period. ‘I will want to know from experts what the weekend figures say.
The Netherlands now has one of the worst infection rates in Europe, and this has received widespread coverage in the foreign press.
The figures, Rutte said, are ‘very bad.’ ‘People are faced with not having the operation they expected, more people will die, are worried about jobs and loneliness… and that is because we are not taking the basic rules seriously,’ he said.
By Friday a further 69 people had been admitted to hospital, taking the total to 1,139, of whom 239 are in intensive care.
Read more at:
Dutch coronavirus figures are 'very bad', Rutte says. Weekend will be crucial - DutchNews.nl
August 7, 2020
The Netherlands: Press conference PM Mark Rutte on measures related to the increased numbers of Coronavirus cases in the Netherlands
In this official Netherlands government website are included all the Press conferences by Dutch government officials, including the latest by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in relation to measures that will be taken by the government as a result of the recent alarming increasing numbers of new Coronavirus cases in th
Read more at: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-beeld-en-video/videospersconferenties?fbclid=IwAR2XUsF8rznA25ZI0bgnrLKqoOwF9pioqPWGM_gEBqYG0lntRJVw6TBrspw
Read more at: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-beeld-en-video/videospersconferenties?fbclid=IwAR2XUsF8rznA25ZI0bgnrLKqoOwF9pioqPWGM_gEBqYG0lntRJVw6TBrspw
August 6, 2020
The Netherlands: Dutch Dr. Fauci Thinks Masks Won't Work. Here's Why: by Hannah Osborne
 |
| Dutch PM Mark Rutte |
Following a meeting with mayors last week, Minister for Medical Care Tamara van Ark reaffirmed the national standpoint.
"From a medical point of view, there is no evidence of a medical effect of wearing face masks, so we decided not to impose a national obligation," Politico quotes her as saying.
At present, the only places where people in the Netherlands need to wear masks are on public transport and at airports. City mayors have also introduced orders about mask use in busy shopping centers.
Note Almere Digest: These are very unorthodox suggestions on masks wearing by the Dutch Rutte Government . A Dutch saying goes : "Baat het niet, schaden doet het ook niet."- Even if it doesn't help, It does not do any harm.Yes indeed, wearing masks has shown to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus, and more important Mr. Rutte, it saves lives in the process .
Mr. Rutte, also, please don't follow President's Trump's conflicting advice on masks, or anything else, for that matter. But I am sure you are aware of his mental shortcomings.
Read more at:
Dutch Dr. Fauci Thinks Masks Won't Work. Here's Why
June 5, 2020
The Netherlands: Dutch PM deems ′Black Pete′ tradition racist
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Friday that he no longerwants the Netherlands to celebrate the Saint Nicholas tradition of"Black Pete," whereby white people in blackface, afro wigs and exaggerated red lipsticks portray delinquent Moorish slaves from Spain.
Rutte described his new view point during a parliamentary debate on Thursday about anti-racism demonstrations in solidarity with US demonstrationsafter American George Floyd — an unarmed black man — died in policecustody in Minneapolis.
Rutte said his attitude towards "Black Pete," known in the Netherlands as "Zwarte Piet," had changed since 2013. At the time, the prime minister had said: "Black Pete is just black and I
can't do much about that." Rutte said he now hopes that the traditionwill disappear in the Netherlands.
Read more at:
Dutch PM deems ′Black Pete′ tradition racist | News | DW | 05.06.2020
Rutte described his new view point during a parliamentary debate on Thursday about anti-racism demonstrations in solidarity with US demonstrationsafter American George Floyd — an unarmed black man — died in policecustody in Minneapolis.
Rutte said his attitude towards "Black Pete," known in the Netherlands as "Zwarte Piet," had changed since 2013. At the time, the prime minister had said: "Black Pete is just black and I
can't do much about that." Rutte said he now hopes that the traditionwill disappear in the Netherlands.
Read more at:
Dutch PM deems ′Black Pete′ tradition racist | News | DW | 05.06.2020
May 24, 2020
Multinational Tax Evation: Waiting for Godot: tackling multinationals’ tax avoidance – by Francesco Saraceno and Tommaso Faccio
The Netherlands’ insistence that everyone ‘go Dutch’ on mushrooming
coronavirus deficits in the European Union has (given its complicity)
revived the debate on tax havens within the EU. In an ideal world,
action on joint debt issuance should go hand in hand with tax
harmonisation and brakes on fiscal dumping.
But, given the current standstill in Europe, it is more likely that national solutions to avoid tax-base erosion will be sought, at least in the near future. Enforcing transparency and leveraging on company reputations could be enacted more effectively than the bans and regulations currently considered.
Note Almere-Digest: The Netherlands Government of Mark Rutte is one of the major EU culprits in facilitating these Multi- National Corporations (Mainly US companies) to dodge paying their local country taxes, by registering them as "special status" Dutch corporations.
Read more at;
Waiting for Godot: tackling multinationals’ tax avoidance – Francesco Saraceno and Tommaso Faccio
But, given the current standstill in Europe, it is more likely that national solutions to avoid tax-base erosion will be sought, at least in the near future. Enforcing transparency and leveraging on company reputations could be enacted more effectively than the bans and regulations currently considered.
Note Almere-Digest: The Netherlands Government of Mark Rutte is one of the major EU culprits in facilitating these Multi- National Corporations (Mainly US companies) to dodge paying their local country taxes, by registering them as "special status" Dutch corporations.
Read more at;
Waiting for Godot: tackling multinationals’ tax avoidance – Francesco Saraceno and Tommaso Faccio
April 1, 2020
The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least
Special measures to
stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended
until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press
conference on Tuesday.
This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for
the next four weeks. The decision has been taken on the basis of expert
advice, the prime minister said.
‘We realise we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’
Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves
us with no other choice.’
‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the
prime minister said.
Measures currently in
Read more at DutchNews.nl:
Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands
are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte
told a press conference on Tuesday. This means cafes, restaurants,
museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks.Read more at DutchNews.nl:
The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said. ‘We realize we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’ Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.’ ‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the prime minister said.
Measures currently in effect, these measure means that schools will be closed until May 3, because the May school holidays start on April 25. Parents considering booking a holiday during the Easter or May break should not do so, the prime minister said.
‘There is a very real chance that we will have to extend the measures past April 28,’ Rutte said. ‘We don’t want people to travel all over the country, and after April 28 we certainly won’t be back the way we were.’ All sports events, including premier league football, are also cancelled until at least June 1, the current deadline for the ban on organized events.
Read more at: The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least - DutchNews.nl
November 27, 2019
The Netherlands: Rutte Government under fire over costly healthcare and educational student loan programs - by RM
The Netherlands privatized Healthcare and Educational programs are not proving to be one of the Dutch PM's Rutte success stories. As a matter of fact, they are both a disaster, too costly and worst of all undemocratic.
It seems that Mr. Rutte and some of his colleages in the Dutch Government don't seem to be aware that education and healthcare, are not, and can never be seen as marketable commodities.
They are a basic democratic right for everyone, poor or rich, and must be free and widely available to all citizens.
The present privatized health and educational programs, applied by the Dutch Government and a few other Governments in the EU, and around the world, are not only undemocratic, they are also proving to be a financial barrier in providing proper education and healthcare to every level of the population, and when all is said and done, actually do not benefit the overall economy.
It is regrettable that some countries, including the Netherlands, have turned these basic human rights, related to education and healthcare, into marketable commodities.
Almere-Digest
It seems that Mr. Rutte and some of his colleages in the Dutch Government don't seem to be aware that education and healthcare, are not, and can never be seen as marketable commodities.
They are a basic democratic right for everyone, poor or rich, and must be free and widely available to all citizens.
The present privatized health and educational programs, applied by the Dutch Government and a few other Governments in the EU, and around the world, are not only undemocratic, they are also proving to be a financial barrier in providing proper education and healthcare to every level of the population, and when all is said and done, actually do not benefit the overall economy.
It is regrettable that some countries, including the Netherlands, have turned these basic human rights, related to education and healthcare, into marketable commodities.
Almere-Digest
July 16, 2019
The Netherlands: Dutch PM Rutte to visit Trump for talks on trade. As to US Defense requests : "NO WAY JOSE" - by Mike Corder
 |
| "No Way Jose" |
Rutte will meet Trump at the White House next Thursday to discuss bilateral relations, international trade and defense and security cooperation, the Dutch government announced.
But Rutte said the visit comes too soon for him to say whether the Netherlands will agree to U.S. requests for assistance in Syria and the Gulf, because his government is still discussing them.
"I can't have a conversation with the American president about it if the procedures in the Netherlands have not been completed," Rutte said. "So that is not a point we are putting on the agenda."
Last month, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said after a meeting in Brussels that NATO allies gave him no firm commitments that they will participate in a global effort to secure international waterways against threats from Iran.
The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, said Tuesday that Washington will move ahead with plans to build a coalition of nations to monitor and deter Iranian threats against commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf area and in a busy waterway between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa.
Note EU-Digest: Donald Trump created the problem with Iran, which has stirred up unrest within the Middle East, after the US stepped out of the Iran Nuclear Treaty. Hopefully PM Rutte of the Netherlands will tell Trump during his visit to the White House, that as to Trump's request for Dutch troops in Syria, or Dutch Navy support in the Persian Gulf, the answer is " NO WAY JOSE".
Read more: Dutch leader to visit Trump for talks on trade, defense - San Antonio Express-News
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