Just when you thought the world couldn't get any worse, somebody's hijacked another mundane Dutch habit and declared it a lifestyle trend. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

The new Dutch foreign minister said a startling thing yesterday when asked if the bombing of Iran was legal: "International law is not the only framework by which we should judge this situation … given the murderousness of the Iranian regime."

I took part in this TV show on the municipal elections in The Hague for international residents. Worth watching if you're new to Dutch elections and want to know what the main issues are, who's on the ballot paper and why I strongly prefer audio. www.rtvdiscus.nl/expaterience/

On the latest @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast, we look at how Rob Jetten dealt with his first test as prime minister by cutting a backroom deal with right-wing parties on pensions, a record Winter Olympics and a treasure trove of Rembrandt etchings. soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

Some fascinating details in this longread in the Volkskrant about how Geert Wilders runs his one-man party, the PVV, like a tinpot dictatorship. “It's a cult,” says one. And now it's falling apart because he demands unstinting loyalty from his MPs but offers none. www.volkskrant.nl/politiek/hoe...

Every sign that the Farmer-Citizen Movement, founded six years ago and the biggest party in every province in the 2023 regional elections, will not see the year out after its latest split. The life cycle of Dutch political parties is becoming a matter for lepidopterists. nos.nl/artikel/2603...

Two Dutch snack bar owners drove down to the Polish border in February 2022 to feed Ukrainians fleeing Putin's war. Four years later they've founded a refugee hostel, pull people out of front line villages, organise children's camps … and still hand out free chips. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/02/from...

Twice the third candidate in a two-horse leadership race, sacked by Mark Rutte for opposing her own government's vaccine policy, PM candidate for the BBB and now passed over for the honour of leading the party to oblivion. Still, at least Mona Keijzer never lied about her CV. nos.nl/artikel/2603...

Rob Jetten's first international phone call as prime minister was not to the American president, the British prime minister or the German chancellor, but the president of Ukraine, on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion. Changed times.

Fascinating to see how Jetten's sexuality makes headlines abroad but is seen as utterly unremarkable in the Netherlands.

Rob Jetten's new Dutch cabinet will struggle with rock-bottom public trust, a chaotic legacy and the consequences of its decision to cut health and social security budgets, while opposition parties are determined to drive a hard bargain with the minority government. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/02/rob-...

I'm currently reading J by Howard Jacobson, adding to my collection of books with a single-letter title. Others in this series: G by John Berger, Q by Luther Blissett (Wu Ming), C by Tom McCarthy, V by Thomas Pynchon. Anyone know any others? (Yes, I could Google it, but real people are more fun).

Veelzeggend dat er maar één PVV-minister in beeld verschijnt als hij dit zegt, en het is niet “goudhaantje” Marjolein Faber maar Barry Madlener.

We take a deep, ice-cold dive into the Dutch love of skating for our latest bonus episode. Including the illicit thrills of 19th-century shorttrack racing and the Amsterdam Jew who defied Nazi occupation to skate the 200km Elfstedentocht race – twice. www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

Dutch commentators went full conspiracy theorist at the Winter Olympics yesterday, claiming that the Canadians ganged up to deny Jens van 't Wout a third gold medal. Coach Niels Kerstholt echoed those sentiments in his interview: "They were very smart“. Sportsmanship is dead. nos.nl/artikel/2603...

Trump and Orbán are reading from the same script, and it's a script written by Putin: the biggest threat to Europe is not Russia but the EU. It's garbage. The EU is not rigging elections, poisoning political opponents or sending missiles to murder civilians in their beds. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...

Mullet fever has gripped the Netherlands after 40-year-old Jorrit Bergsma won a bronze medal at the 10,000m speed skating.

The curse of Friday 13th hit the @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social this week, so I'm afraid we're down to one podcaster and one laboured joke about speed skating. There's a breakdown of the new cabinet line-up and an early defeat in parliament for the minority coalition. soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

An aspect of the discussion on assisted dying that's rarely considered: 3.5% of deaths in the Netherlands between 2019 and 2023 were people who chose to stop eating and drinking. Most of them had had requests for euthanasia turned down. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/02/more...

Hang on, I thought colonialism was supposed to be a good thing that brought civilisation and better living standards to primitive societies?

Owen Ramsingh moved from the Netherlands to the US at the age of 5 and lived there for 40 years, working and raising a family in Missouri. But his efforts couldn't save him from being deported by the Trump administration because of a drugs conviction when he was 16. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/02/depo...

Kok was Olympic record holder for all of 10 minutes :)

VVD justice minister David van Weel, asked why only 3 of his party's 9 cabinet members were women, replied: “We selected on quality.” D66 just appointed the first female lieutenant-general in the Dutch army as housing minister. The quality's there if you look for it. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...

The prevailing view of the Dutch coalition agreement - certainly on BlueSky - is that it was a coup for the right-wing VVD. Yet Maurice de Hond's latest poll suggests of the three parties, VVD voters are the least happy about the deal.

This week's @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast: the coalition parties come under fire in their opening debate over their plans to cut welfare and the retirement age. Plus a bluffer's guide to speed skating so you can join in the national obsession. on.soundcloud.com/K287sPdbnmti...

Yesilgöz zegt steeds dat we de rekening van vandaag niet moeten doorsturen naar de volgende generatie. Waarom het wel oké is om de rekening op te eisen bij de kwetsbaren en chronische zieken van nu, om o.a. belastingvoordelen voor rijke huizenbezitters in stand te houden, blijft onbeantwoord.

”Is dit de beoogde Minister van Financiën [hetgeen tot 23 februari geheim hoort te blijven]?" "JAZEKER! HIJ IS DE BESTE! JOTTEM!!!" Dames en heren, maak kennis met de behoeder van onze nationale veiligheid en staatsgeheimen voor de komende vier jaar. nos.nl/collectie/14...

The "adult content" in question is a 17th-century sculpture by Bernini, exhibited in the Rijksmuseum. Cover your eyes, children! (or maybe @bsky.app could stop being ludicrous)

Is anybody outside Westminster even remotely shocked that the man nicknamed The Prince of Darkness, who's been implicated in more scandals than Catherine the Great, turned out to be an amoral sleazebag of the highest order?

Jizz Hornkamp was among the big names on the move during the January transfer window in the Eredivisie. (No sniggering at the back) www.dutchnews.nl/2026/02/dutc...

Appalling images of a Dutch security guard ordering an asylum seeker to get on his knees and kiss his shoes. Accommodation service COA quietly dealt with it by taking the guard off duty. The incident happened 2.5 years ago but was posted on the internet this week. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/02/secu...

Oh great, there's a Dutch angle to the Epstein files. Just as I was starting to worry the world’s glitziest sleazefest was going to pass us by entirely. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/02/dutc...

Feyenoord are 3-0 down to PSV in less than 20 minutes. Two defensive howlers. You have to ask whether Van Persie will make it to his first anniversary as coach on February 23.

Looks like the rumours Yesilgöz is going to the defence ministry have some substance. No way she'd accept the justice portfolio with this kind of stuff in it.

Excess on Dutch healthcare premiums won't just go up to €460 next year: it'll also be index-linked in future years. Assuming 3% inflation this year, that would push it up to c. €475 in 2028. Opposition could try to force one of these measures to be scrapped. Worth saying it's been frozen since 2016.

Very brief highlights of new Dutch government plans: Defence and security – raise annual budget to €19bn, partly though “freedom contribution“ (extra income tax) worth €3.5bn a year. Armed forces to grow to 122,000. Support Ukraine to join EU and Nato. Create European “Five Eyes” spy network.

Jetten spells out the priorities for his cabinet term: defence spending, affordable and accessible healthcare, housebuilding and a future for farmers. Says he wants broad support from parliament on those issues. A big departure from the last cabinet's obsessive focus on the “migration crisis”.

Rob Jetten stresses the importance of co-operation and the Dutch tradition of compromise as he presents the new coalition agreement. Dilan Yesilgöz immediately starts picking off VVD wins: a ban on prioritising asylum seekers in social housing and opening the long-delayed Lelystad airport.

Lead negotiator Rianne Letschert says the minority coalition of D66, VVD and CDA will require a “new political culture: strong on content, but with warm personal relations” – a thinly veiled dig at the last government, which was hamstrung by infighting and achieved almost nothing.

The new Dutch government's coalition agreement “Aan de slag!“ (Get to work!) is being presented at 1pm. Here's what's leaked so far: Excess/deductible for compulsory healthcare up from €385 a year to €460 in 2027. First increase in 12 years and the biggest jump since 2013. www.ad.nl/politiek/eig...

Schiphol has been given a license to keep polluting. The airport has been flouting noise and emissions limits since 2010 and its environmental permit was struck out last year by a court, but the government has given it another two years to get its affairs in order. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...

Usual caveats about not knowing the full incident, but there's no indication that the woman is resisting arrest or posing a threat at the moment the police officer turns round and kicks her. More on this incident in Utrecht here: www.dutchnews.nl/2026/01/wome...

After literally minutes of fevered speculation, the title of the next Dutch government's coalition agreement is revealed to be “aan de slag!“ (Let's get started!) Like when expecting parents tease you for months about the baby's name and then it turns out to be Bart.

Live like a teetotal 1950s coalminer and you'll be rich beyond your wildest dreams, apparently.

The Dutch immigration service has reversed its decision to refuse asylum to four Afghan women, after conditions worsened under the Taliban in the last two years. Legal challenges were were due to be heard next month; experts said they had a strong case. www.trouw.nl/binnenland/i...

The new panel includes details of the regiments that dug the graves without mentioning segregation or including the voices of the overwhelmingly Black soldiers who were involved.

Belgium wants to introduce a Swiss-style motorway toll for visitors from 2027, which gives the Dutch an excuse to vent on one of their favourite subjects: the state of Belgian roads. www.ad.nl/binnenland/n...

Stay ahead of the trolls and smart-arses as we put the difference between Holland and the Netherlands into historical context in the latest bonus episode of the Dutch News podcast. www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

Seven MPs split from Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom this week, but will the new group boost or undermine the incoming coalition’s hopes of making progress in government? We discuss the implications on this week’s @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast. soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

Excluding Canada from a board of peace is like excluding the Netherlands from a board of water management.