Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 18:44, 26 December 2024

His ExcellencyMark Rutte
Rutte in 2023
14th Secretary General of NATO
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2024
Deputy	Radmila Šekerinska
Preceded by	Jens Stoltenberg
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 14 October 2010 – 2 July 2024
Monarchs	Beatrix Willem-Alexander
Deputy	See list Maxime Verhagen (2010–2012) Lodewijk Asscher (2012–2017) Hugo de Jonge (2017–2022) Kajsa Ollongren (2017–2022) Wopke Hoekstra (2022–2023) Carola Schouten (2017–2024) Sigrid Kaag (2022–2024) Karien van Gennip (2023–2024) Rob Jetten (2024)
Preceded by	Jan Peter Balkenende
Succeeded by	Dick Schoof
Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
In office 31 May 2006 – 14 August 2023
Preceded by	Jozias van Aartsen
Succeeded by	Dilan Yeşilgöz
State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science
In office 17 June 2004 – 27 June 2006
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Annette Nijs
Succeeded by	Bruno Bruins
State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment
In office 22 July 2002 – 17 June 2004
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Hans Hoogervorst
Succeeded by	Henk van Hoof
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 31 March 2021 – 10 January 2022
In office 23 March 2017 – 26 October 2017
In office 20 September 2012 – 5 November 2012
In office 28 June 2006 – 14 October 2010
In office 30 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
Personal details
Born	(1967-02-14) 14 February 1967 (age 57) The Hague, Netherlands
Political party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Education	Leiden University (BA, MA)
Signature

This article is part of a series aboutMark Rutte
Political career Prime Minister (2010–2024) Party Leader of the VVD (2006–2023) 2006 party leadership election Secretary for Education, Culture and Science (2004–2006) Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment (2002–2004) Member of the House of Representatives 2006 general election Prime Minister of the Netherlands International trips First Ministry and term 2010 general election 2010 cabinet formation Rutte I Second Ministry and term 2012 general election Rutte II Association Agreement referendum Third Ministry and term 2017 general election 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident 2017 cabinet formation Rutte III Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Intelligence and Security Services referendum COVID-19 pandemic Frugal Four Fourth Ministry and term 2021 general election 2021–2022 cabinet formation Rutte IV Dutch childcare benefits scandal Nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands Affiliations People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy Media gallery
v t e

Mark Rutte (Dutch: [ˈmɑr(ə)k ˈrʏtə] ; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who since October 2024 serves as the 14th secretary-general of NATO. He previously served as the prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024, and as the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 to 2023. Serving a total of almost 14 years, Rutte is the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history.

After originally embarking on a business management career working for Unilever, Rutte entered national politics in 2002 as a member of Jan Peter Balkenende's cabinets. Rutte won the 2006 VVD leadership election and led the party to victory in the 2010 general election. After lengthy coalition negotiations, he became prime minister of the Netherlands. He was the first self-described liberal to be appointed prime minister in 92 years.

An impasse on budget negotiations led to his government's early collapse in April 2012, but the VVD's victory in the subsequent election allowed Rutte to return as prime minister to lead his second cabinet between the VVD and the Labour Party (PvdA), which became the first cabinet to complete a full four-year term since 1998. Though the VVD lost seats in the 2017 general election, it remained the largest party. After a record-length formation period, Rutte was appointed to lead his third cabinet between the VVD, Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Democrats 66 (D66) and Christian Union (CU).

Though Rutte and his cabinet resigned in response to the Dutch childcare benefits scandal, the VVD would go on to win the 2021 general election. Rutte began his fourth term in 2022 after another record-length formation period. On 7 July 2023, he announced his government's resignation after the cabinet failed to agree on how to handle migration. Rutte IV would continue on as an outgoing cabinet, fulfilling a caretaker function and keeping the nation running until the Schoof cabinet was sworn in on 2 July 2024.

Due to his ability to come out of political scandals with an untarnished reputation, Rutte has been referred to as Teflon Mark. He has been described as ideologically flexible and pragmatic, willing to accommodate a broad range of political factions in order to address issues.

Early life

Rutte was born in The Hague, in the province of South Holland, to a Dutch Reformed family. He is the youngest child of Izaäk Rutte (5 October 1909 – 22 April 1988), a merchant, and his second wife Hermina Cornelia Dilling (13 November 1923 – 13 May 2020), a secretary. Izaäk Rutte worked for a trading company; first as an importer in the Dutch East Indies; he later ran a car dealership. His second wife was a sister of his first wife, Petronella Hermanna Dilling (17 March 1910 – 20 July 1945), who died while they were interned together in Tjideng, a prisoner-of-war camp in Batavia (Jakarta), during World War II. Rutte has seven siblings as a result of his father's two marriages. One of his elder brothers died from AIDS in the 1980s. Rutte later described the deaths of his brother and his father as events that changed the course of his life.

Rutte attended the Maerlant Lyceum from 1979 until 1985, specialising in the arts. Although his original ambition was to attend a conservatory and become a concert pianist, he instead went to study history at Leiden University, where he obtained an MA degree in 1992. Rutte combined his studies with a position on the board of the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy, the youth organisation of the VVD, and served as chair of the organisation from 1988 to 1991.

After his studies Rutte entered the business world, working as a manager for Unilever and its food subsidiary Calvé. Until 1997, Rutte was part of the human resource department of Unilever, and played a leading role in several reorganisations. Between 1997 and 2000, Rutte was staff manager of the subsidiary Van den Bergh Nederland. In 2000, Rutte became a member of the Corporate Human Resources Group, and in 2002, he became human resource manager for IgloMora Groep, another subsidiary of Unilever.

Political career

Between 1993 and 1997, Rutte was a member of the national board of the VVD. Rutte served as State Secretary (i.e. Deputy Minister) at the Social Affairs and Employment Ministry from 22 July 2002 to 17 June 2004 in the First and Second Balkenende cabinets and was responsible for fields including bijstand (municipal welfare) and arbeidsomstandigheden (Occupational safety and health). After the 2003 elections Rutte was briefly also a member of the House of Representatives, from 30 January to 27 May 2003.

In 2003, Rutte supported the US-led invasion of Iraq.

During his time as State Secretary in 2003, Rutte advised municipalities to check Somali residents for social assistance fraud, after a number of Somalis who were working in England were found to be receiving social assistance benefits in the Netherlands as well. A Somali man entitled to benefits was stopped by social investigators and checked for fraud on the basis of his external characteristics, after which he refused the investigators access to his home. The Municipal Executive (College van burgemeester en wethouders) of Haarlem decided to withdraw his right to social benefits. He disagreed with this and his appeal was upheld by the administrative judge. The court ruled that "an investigation aimed exclusively at persons of Somali descent is discriminatory" and contrary to the Constitution because this distinction is "discrimination based on race". Rutte rejected the criticism, stating that a change in the law would then be necessary to be able to combat targeted fraud.

Rutte later served as State Secretary for Higher Education and Science within the Education, Culture and Science Ministry in the Second Balkenende Cabinet from 17 June 2004 to 27 June 2006, replacing Annette Nijs. In office, Rutte showed particular interest in making the Dutch higher education system more competitive internationally, by trying to make it more market oriented (improving the position of students as consumers in the market for education). Rutte resigned from his position in government in June 2006 to return to the House of Representatives, and he soon became the parliamentary leader of the VVD.

Party leadership election

After the resignation of Jozias van Aartsen and a loss in the 2006 Dutch municipal election, the VVD held an internal election for a new Lead Candidate, in which Rutte competed against Rita Verdonk and Jelleke Veenendaal. On 31 May 2006, it was announced that Mark Rutte would be the next lijsttrekker of the VVD. He was elected by 51.5% of party members. Rutte's candidacy was backed by the VVD leadership, including the party board, and many prominent politicians such as Frank de Grave, former minister of Defence, Ivo Opstelten, the mayor of Rotterdam and Ed Nijpels, the Queen's Commissioner of Friesland. The Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy, the VVD's youth wing of which Rutte had previously been chair, also backed him. During the elections he promised "to make the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy a party for everyone and not just of the elite".

2006 general election

For the 2006 general election, the VVD campaign with Rutte as leader did not get off to a good start; he received criticism from within his own party. Rutte was said to be overshadowed by his own party members Rita Verdonk and Gerrit Zalm, as well as being unable to penetrate between Wouter Bos and Jan Peter Balkenende, who were generally seen as the prime candidates to become the next prime minister. On 27 November, it became known that Rita Verdonk, who generally held a more populist view on politics, managed to obtain more votes than Mark Rutte; he obtained 553,200 votes against Verdonk's 620,555. After repeated criticisms by Verdonk on VVD policy, Rutte expelled her from the party's parliamentary faction on 13 September 2007.

2010 general election

In the 2010 general election, Rutte was once again the lead candidate for the VVD. It won 31 seats and, for the first time ever, became the largest party in the House of Representatives. The lengthy 2010 cabinet formation followed, with several personalities succeeding each other, being appointed by Queen Beatrix in order to find out what coalition could be formed. Efforts to form a broad spectrum coalition between the VVD, CDA and PvdA failed. Instead, the only possibility appeared to be a centre-right coalition of liberals and Christian Democrats (CDA), with the outside support of the Party for Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands

First term

After securing support for a coalition between the VVD and CDA, Rutte was appointed as formateur on 8 October 2010; Rutte announced his prospective cabinet, including Maxime Verhagen from the CDA as deputy prime minister. On 14 October, Queen Beatrix formally invited Rutte to form a government, and later that day, Rutte presented his first cabinet to Parliament. The government was confirmed in office by a majority of one, and Rutte was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, becoming the first Liberal to serve in the role since Pieter Cort van der Linden in 1918. At 43 years old, he also became the second-youngest prime minister in Dutch history, after Ruud Lubbers.

After a victory in the 2011 provincial elections, the VVD secured its status as the lead party within the government. In March 2012, seeking to comply with requirements from the European Union to reduce the nation's deficit, Rutte began talks with his coalition partners on a budget which would cut 16 billion euros of government spending. However, PVV leader Geert Wilders withdrew his party's informal support from the government on 21 April, stating that the proposed budget would hurt economic growth. This led to the early collapse of the government and Rutte submitting his resignation to Queen Beatrix on the afternoon of 23 April. His government had lasted for 558 days, making it one of the shortest Dutch cabinets since World War II.

Second term

Ahead of the 2012 general election, Rutte was named the VVD's lead candidate for the third time. At the election in September, the VVD won an additional 10 seats, remaining the largest party in the House of Representatives; the CDA and PVV saw their number of seats fall significantly. The VVD quickly negotiated a coalition agreement with the Labour Party and Rutte returned as prime minister of the Second Rutte cabinet on 5 November 2012.

In 2014, The Hague hosted a Group of Seven special meeting after the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in Ukraine with 193 Dutch nationals aboard.

In April 2016, Rutte was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim to the High-Level Panel on Water. Co-chaired by Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, the joint UN-WBG panel was set up to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). That month also saw the 2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum, which resulted in a rejection. In November 2016 the House of Representatives approved a ban on the Islamic burqa in some public spaces including schools and hospitals by 132 votes against 18, which the VVD supported.

Rutte's second cabinet completed its full four-year term without collapsing or losing a vote of no confidence, becoming the first cabinet to do so since the First Kok cabinet, which lasted from 1994 to 1998.

Third term

The VVD went into the 2017 general election with a small lead over the PVV in most opinion polls. Rutte was judged to have managed the 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident well according to similar polling. While the VVD lost 8 seats in the general election, the PvdA lost 29, and these seats were split between a number of other parties, leaving the VVD as the largest party in parliament for the third successive election. After holding coalition discussions, Rutte negotiated a grand coalition with the CDA, D66 and CU; he presented his third cabinet on 26 October 2017 and was sworn in as prime minister for a third term. The 225 days between the general election and the installation of the third Rutte cabinet was the longest such period in Dutch history.

The coalition agreement contained a plan to abolish the 15% dividend tax (providing the state €1.4 billion per year), which proved highly unpopular as it had not been mentioned in any of the coalition party's programs, and it later appeared that major Dutch companies like Shell and Unilever had secretly been lobbying for the inclusion of this measure.

On 21 March 2018, the Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum was held, which resulted in a rejection. In July of that same year, Rutte became a topic in international news by interrupting and explicitly contradicting the American president Donald Trump during a meeting with the press at the Oval Office in the White House, which was considered to be "typical Dutch bluntness". At the 2019 provincial elections, Rutte's VVD suffered a blow following the victory of right-wing populist newcomer Forum for Democracy (FvD).

During the negotiations for the COVID-19 recovery fund in the European Union in 2020, Rutte was considered the unofficial leader of the Frugal Four, demanding loans instead of grants and more conditions on them. In September of that year, Rutte suggested that the EU could be dissolved and re-formed without Poland and Hungary, as he perceived these countries' governments to be dismantling the rule of law.

On 15 January 2021, the third Rutte cabinet collectively resigned after the publication of research centered around the childcare subsidies scandal in the Netherlands. Rutte offered his resignation to King Willem-Alexander, accepting responsibility for the scandal.

Fourth term

Following the 2021 Dutch general election, Rutte's VVD party held 34 of 150 seats and was expected to form a new coalition government. After remaining as outgoing prime minister for the duration of the longest formation process in Dutch history he presented a coalition agreement with D66, CDA and CU, the same combination as his previous government, on 15 December 2021.

In October 2022, Rutte said that alleged war crimes and human rights violations committed during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh should be investigated.

Rutte suffered a political scandal (Nokiagate) during his fourth term, when it was found that he had been deleting the majority of the SMS text messages on his archaic Nokia mobile phone for years, personally judging which messages were to be archived and which messages were to be deleted in direct violation of the archival law. He explained that this was necessary due to his phone memory filling up too quickly, which was not considered a plausible excuse by other ministers. The scandal also damaged his campaign promises and the coalition accords, which stated that the cabinet wished to restore peoples faith in politics, create a new governance culture and "improve the information provided to the House". The latter of these concerned measures including a modernisation of the archival law and faster information availability.

In January 2023, the U.S., Japan, and the Netherlands reached an agreement to limit certain advanced chip exports to China. Accordingly, the Dutch government placed restrictions on chip exports in March 2023 in order to protect national security. This measure affected the Dutch multinational ASML, one of the most important companies in the global microchip supply chain. In January 2024, the Dutch government placed further restrictions on the shipment of some advanced chip-making equipment to China, though on 27 March 2024, Chinese president Xi Jinping told Rutte that "no force can stop the pace of China’s scientific and technological progress".

Different stances on immigration policy within his four-party coalition had existed since the coalition government was formed. VVD and CDA supported restrictions on immigration, while D66 and CU opposed them. On 7 July 2023, the parties failed to reach an agreement and unanimously decided that they could not continue working together within the coalition. Following this, Rutte immediately offered the resignation of his government. The king asked that the prime minister and his government "continue to carry out the duties they consider necessary to the interests of the Kingdom in a caretaker capacity". Three days later, Rutte announced his departure both as political leader of the VVD and from national politics in general, after the installation of the next government.

While serving as outgoing prime minister, Rutte he condemned the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and expressed his support to Israel and its right to self-defense. He would go on to visit Israel later that same month to express solidarity with the country, meeting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. He rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war but supported "humanitarian pauses" to provide aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip. Though the Netherlands provided military aid to Israel, in February 2024 a court in the Netherlands ordered the Dutch government to stop exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to the country.

Due to the resignation of the cabinet general elections were held early, on 22 November 2023, with the VVD now under the leadership of Dilan Yeşilgöz.

In February 2024, Rutte visited Saudi Arabia and spoke with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman about "broad cooperation". He would travel to Paris on the 26th of February, where Emmanuel Macron was hosting an emergency summit concerning the situation in Ukraine, which had suffered the loss of Avdiivka due to a lack of available ammunition. Czech PM Petr Fiala proposed to purchase 500,000 rounds of artillery ammunition for Volodymyr Zelensky's forces. This was the second time in one month the Czech government had aired the matter. The French had previously vetoed the idea to purchase the ammunition from foreign sources. On behalf of his government, Rutte announced that they would provide €100 million for this purpose. On 1 March Rutte increased the commitment to €250 million for Fiala's venture, as he went to Kharkiv to tour an underground metro station that had been repurposed into a primary school together with Zelensky. During this same tour, they signed the Netherlands-Ukraine bilateral security agreement.

Later that month, Rutte threatened Israel with sanctions if the Israeli military launched a large-scale invasion of Rafah, saying the attack would be a "game changer" and have "political consequences". He also met with Chinese president Xi Jinping, where Rutte discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and tried to persuade China, which provided Russia with diplomatic cover and economic support through trade, to exert its influence on Russia. Rutte said that "this is a direct security threat for us, because if Russia will be successful in Ukraine, it will be a threat to the whole of Europe. It will not end with Ukraine."

On 14 April 2024, Rutte condemned the Iranian strikes against Israel and reiterated the necessity for sanctions against Iran. Rutte stated that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) should be added to the EU's terrorism blacklist.

Rutte's government authorized Ukraine to use Dutch-supplied F-16 fighters to strike targets inside Russia in May. Rutte attended the June 2024 Ukraine peace summit, interpreting Putin's proposal for peace talks near the end of this summit as a sign of panic.

Rutte's fourth term as prime minister came to an end with the swearing in of the Schoof cabinet, which had been formed following the general election. This new cabinet is led by Dick Schoof, the former secretary-general of the Ministry of Justice and Security.

Secretary General of NATO

Following his departure from national politics, Rutte succeeded Jens Stoltenberg as Secretary General of NATO on 1 October 2024 during a ceremonial handover at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Despite having previously stated that he wanted to focus on high school teaching after his prime ministership, he announced his candidacy for the position in October 2023. His bid received public support from the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France in February 2024. Rutte managed to overcome opposition from the last holdouts of Turkey, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania in the months thereafter, with his only opponent, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, dropping out a week before his official appointment on 26 June 2024.

In October 2024, Rutte said that more than 600,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded during the war with Ukraine.

As secretary-general, Rutte called on member nations to ramp up their defense spending and production, stating that a wartime mentality was required. He said that the additional spending would be necessary to guarantee a collective defense and to avert a Russian attack following its invasion of Ukraine.

Rutte has repeatedly urged sending more weapons to Ukraine. He said that any future peace talks with Russia should be led by Ukraine from a position of strength.

Rutte criticized China's stance towards Taiwan, saying that "China is bullying Taiwan, and pursuing access to our critical infrastructure in ways that could cripple our societies." He added, "Russia, China, but also North Korea and Iran, are hard at work to try to weaken North America and Europe. To chip away at our freedom, they want to reshape the global order, not to create a fairer one, but to secure their own spheres of influence."

Personal life

Rutte is single. He is a member of the Dutch Protestant Church. While he was prime minister, Rutte taught social studies on Thursday mornings at the Johan de Witt College, a secondary school in The Hague. Rutte is known to be a big fan of the writing of Robert Caro, especially his 1974 book about Robert Moses, The Power Broker. He drives a Saab 9-3 estate. Before moving to Brussels in 2024 following his appointment as Secretary General of NATO, he lived in an apartment in Benoordenhout, a neighbourhood of The Hague, for several decades.

Honours

•  Australia: Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (9 October 2019)
•  France: Grand Officer of the Order of Legion of Honour (11 April 2023)
•  Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (20 December 2022)
•  Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (7 June 2024)
•  Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (2 July 2024)
•  Ukraine: Recipient of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st degree (27 January 2023)
• People's Party for Freedom and Democracy: Honorary member (30 November 2024)

Electoral history

See also

• List of international prime ministerial trips made by Mark Rutte

References

1. "Mark Rutte takes office as NATO Secretary General". NATO. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
2. "Mark Rutte: eerste liberale premier sinds 1918" (in Dutch). eenvandaag.nl. 7 October 2010. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
3. "Dutch PM Rutte and his government quit over child welfare scandal". Al Jazeera. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
4. "The buck stops here: Dutch govt quits over welfare scandal". Associated Press. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
5. "Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resign over child welfare scandal". CBS News. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
6. "Netherlands election: Mark Rutte claims fourth term with 'overwhelming' victory". The Guardian. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
7. "Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resign over child welfare scandal". CBS News. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
8. "Mark Rutte resigns as Dutch PM amid migration dispute – National | Globalnews.ca", Global News, retrieved 7 July 2023
9. Corder, Mike (7 July 2023). "Dutch premier resigns because of deadlock on thorny issue of migration, paving way for new elections". Associated Press. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
10. Moses, Claire; Bilefsky, Dan (7 July 2023). "Dutch Government Collapses Over Plan to Further Limit Immigration". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
11. Henley, Jon (14 December 2021). "'Teflon' Mark Rutte set for fourth Dutch term after record-breaking talks". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
12. de Gruyter, Caroline (28 June 2024). "NATO's New Leader Was Planning This the Whole Time". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
13. ^ "Drs. M. (Mark) Rutte". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
14. Couglin, Con (26 June 2024). "Mark Rutte: Meet NATO's new secretary-general". Al Majalla.
15. "El primer ministro holandés respeta el confinamiento y no se despide de su madre enferma". Diario ABC (in Spanish). 26 May 2020.
16. Pedigree
17. "Rutte on Zomergasten: Wilders, multiculturalism and the 'last taboo'". Dutch News. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
18. O'Leary, Naomi (8 June 2018). "Mark Rutte: North's quiet rebel". Politico. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
19. "Rutte opent Maerlant-Lyceum Den Haag". Hart van Nederland. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
20. "Rutte had pianoleraar kunnen zijn". De Pers. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
21. ^ "CV | Mark Rutte". rijksoverheid.nl. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
22. "Mark Rutte" (in Dutch). VVD. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
23. "Biografie – Mark Rutte". elsevier.nl. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
24. "Who is Mark Rutte? A short biography". DutchNews. 10 June 2010.
25. "Mark Rutte". NATO. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
26. Huijzer, Jouke (19 June 2024). "To Become NATO Chief, Mark Rutte Denied Israeli War Crimes". Jacobin.
27. "Rutte: Veroordeling discriminatie onterecht". Elsevier. 19 May 2007.
28. "Rutte zette aan tot discriminatie". NRC. NRC Handelsblad. 21 May 2007.
29. ECLI:NL:RBHAA:2007:BA5410
30. ^ (in Dutch) "Onvrede binnen VVD over Rutte," Algemeen Dagblad (31 October 2006). Retrieved 14 May 2014.
31. "Tension mounts as VVD waits for Verdonk's reaction to voters' support". dutchnews.nl. 28 November 2006.
32. (in Dutch) Oranje, Joost and Guus Valk, "Kamp: VVD moet Rutte nu steunen," Archived 15 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine NRC Handelsblad (15 September 2007). Retrieved 14 May 2014. Literal English translation: "Verdonk was yesterday by Mark Rutte formally expelled from the VVD's parliamentary party in the House of Representatives after she had again voiced criticism of the party in the press." Dutch original: "Verdonk werd gisteren formeel door Mark Rutte uit de Tweede Kamerfractie van de VVD gezet, nadat zij in de pers opnieuw kritiek had geuit op de fractie."
33. ^ "Election 2010 – The Netherlands shifts to the right". NRC Handelsblad. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
34. Van Kessel, Alexander (2016). "'Doe dit onze partij niet aan, doe dit ons land niet aan'" ['Don't do this to our party, don't do this to our country']. In Van Baalen, Carla; Van Kessel, Alexander (eds.). Kabinetsformaties 1977-2012 [Cabinet formations 1977-2012] (in Dutch). Boom. pp. 319–348. ISBN 9789461054661.
35. "Rutte wordt niet jongste premier" (in Dutch). 13 August 2010.
36. ^ "Dutch government falls in budget crisis". BBC News. 23 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
37. Gilbert Kreijger and Thomas Escritt (23 April 2012). "Dutch Prime Minister resigns in budget cuts row". Reuters. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
38. "Volg de verkiezingen 2014 live". De Volkskrant. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012.
39. Baalen, C. C. van; Kessel, Alexander van, eds. (2016). Kabinetsformaties 1977-2012 [Cabinet Formations 1977-2012] (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Boom. pp. 511–523. ISBN 978-94-6105-466-1.
40. United Nations Secretary-General, World Bank Group President Appoint High-Level Panel on Water United Nations, a press release of 21 April 2016.
41. The Netherlands votes for partial restrictions of the burqa in public space, independent.co.uk, 29 November 2016.
42. "Kabinet-Rutte II verslaat Lubbers III: langstzittende kabinet". NOS (in Dutch). 20 August 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
43. "Kabinetsformatie 2017". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
44. Rutte: effect afschaffen dividendbelasting op bedridden niet bekend Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch), rtlnieuws.nl.
45. "Trump got a dose of Dutch bluntness from visiting prime minister". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
46. "Rutte interrupts Trump! 4 Things that happened at the Rutte – Trump meeting | DutchReview". 3 July 2018.
47. "Provinciale Statenverkiezingen 2019" (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
48. Dodman, Benjamin (20 July 2020). "Dutch PM Mark Rutte, the thrifty europhile holding Europe hostage". France 24. Reuters, AFP. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
49. "[Opinion] Could we found a new EU without Hungary and Poland?". EUobserver. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
50. "The frugal blues: An underappreciated threat to the European project". ECFR. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
51. "Plenaire verslagen". www.tweedekamer.nl (in Dutch). 9 September 2020. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020. Je moet gaan nadenken: kun je een begroting maken via een intergouvernementeel verdrag of kun je nu een Europese Unie oprichten zonder Hongarije en Polen?
52. Erdbrink, Thomas (15 January 2021). "Government in Netherlands Resigns After Benefit Scandal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
53. van den Berg, Stephanie (15 January 2021). "Dutch government resigns over childcare subsidies scandal". Reuters. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
54. "Dutch election: PM Mark Rutte claims victory and fourth term". BBC News. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
55. "Coalition agreement presented today after record long formation process". NL Times. ANP. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
56. "Mark Rutte: Azerbaijani war crimes must be investigated". NEWS.am. 6 October 2022.
57. "Premier Rutte wiste jarenlang iedere dag zijn sms'jes". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 18 May 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
58. ^ Valk, Guus (18 May 2022). "Rutte bepaalde zélf welke sms'jes belangrijk waren en welke niet – en dat wringt". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2023.
59. "U.S. secures deal with Netherlands, Japan on China chip export limit – Bloomberg". Reuters. 27 January 2023.
60. "US-China chip war: Netherlands moves to restrict some exports". BBC News. 9 March 2023. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023.
61. Madhok, Diksha (2 January 2024). "ASML forced to suspend some China exports after US escalates tech battle | CNN Business". CNN.
62. "Xi tells Dutch prime minister: No force can stop China's tech advance". CNBC. 28 March 2024.
63. "Dutch PM Mark Rutte resigns after collapse of coalition government". Sky News. 8 July 2023. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
64. "Mark Rutte hands in resignation to the king after coalition collapse". Euronews. 7 July 2023. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
65. "Prime Minister Rutte tenders government's resignation". Government of the Netherlands. 8 July 2023. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
66. "VVD-leider Mark Rutte stopt, kondigt vertrek uit politiek aan". nos.nl (in Dutch). 10 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
67. Boztas, Senay (10 July 2023). "Dutch PM Mark Rutte to leave politics after collapse of government". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
68. ""Israel has every right to defend itself," says Dutch PM". Dutch News. 8 October 2023.
69. Berman, Lazar (23 October 2023). "Netanyahu to Dutch leader: This war is civilization vs. barbarism". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
70. "Western countries oppose cease-fire in Gaza as humanitarian crisis unfolds". Anadolu Agency. 27 October 2023.
71. "Rutte covering up negative info about Israel to protect future NATO job, officials say". NL Times. 22 January 2024.
72. "Netherlands to challenge court ruling blocking F-35 spare part exports to Israel". NL Times. 12 February 2024.
73. "The Tweede Kamer urges members of the Cabinet not to travel to World Cup in Saudi Arabia". NL Times. 16 February 2024.
74. "EU seeks more ammunition for Ukraine to reverse Putin's advance". Luxembourg Times. 26 February 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
75. Rose, Michel; Irish, John (27 February 2024). "France's Macron does not rule out Europeans sending troops to Ukraine". Reuters. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
76. "Rutte pledges more cash for Ukrainian ammunition during visit". Dutch News. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
77. "Netherlands' Rutte Signs Security Deal in Ukraine, Promising Artillery Funding". U.S. News & World Report. Reuters. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
78. ""Sanctions not excluded" if Israel opens large-scale attack on Rafah: Dutch PM Rutte". NL Times. 20 March 2024.
79. "Chinese Leader to Dutch PM: Restricting Technology Access Won't Stop China's Advance". VOA News. 27 March 2024.
80. "The Netherlands condemns Iran's attack on Israel, PM Rutte says". NL Times. 14 April 2024.
81. ^ "EU plans sanctions, urges calm after Iran strikes Israel". Deutsche Welle. 18 April 2024.
82. "NATO chief reiterates Ukraine's right to strike 'legitimate military targets' inside Russia". Anadolu Agency. 31 May 2024.
83. "Ukraine can strike Russian targets with Dutch F-16s". Politico. 3 June 2024.
84. "Putin's 'peace talks' statement shows panic – Dutch PM Mark Rutte". The New Voice of Ukraine. 16 June 2024. Wikidata Q126689515. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024.
85. "Ministers en staatssecretarissen kabinet-Schoof beëdigd" [Ministers and state secretaries of Schoof cabinet sworn in]. NOS (in Dutch). 2 July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
86. "Mark Rutte takes over as NATO chief". Le Monde. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
87. ^ De Koning, Petra; Aharouay, Lamyae (5 June 2024). "NAVO-secretaris-generaal Stoltenberg gaat naar Boedapest om Rutte te helpen" [NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg will visit Budapest to help Rutte]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
88. "UK backs outgoing Dutch PM as next Nato chief". BBC. 22 February 2024.
89. Lange, Laurens (23 February 2024). "Rutte heeft unanieme steun nodig – sommige NAVO-landen zien liever andere baas" [Rutte needs unanimous support – some NATO members would rather have another boss]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 February 2024.
90. "Mark Rutte weigerde in januari 2023 nog om NAVO-baas te worden" [Mark Rutte refused to become NATO leader in January 2023]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
91. "Rutte over nieuwe baan: 'Drie maanden vrij en dan hard werken'" [Rutte about new job: 'Three months of vacation and hard work thereafter']. NOS (in Dutch). 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
92. "Mark Rutte officieel benoemd tot nieuwe secretaris-generaal NAVO" [Mark Rutte officially appoint new Secretary General of NATO]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
93. "Russia has suffered 600,000 casualties in Ukraine war, says Nato". The Telegraph. 28 October 2024.
94. Brouwers, Arnout (12 December 2024). "Rutte roept Navolanden op tot veel snellere verhoging van defensiebudget: 'De turbo moet erop'" [Rutte calls on NATO member nations to quickly raise defense budgets: 'We should turbo charge']. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 December 2024.
95. "Rutte Urges More NATO Arms as Ukraine Spending Goal in Sight". Bloomberg. 16 October 2024.
96. "Nato's Rutte says Ukraine needs more weapons, not new ideas". Financial Times. 3 December 2024.
97. "NATO wants to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any Russia peace talks". Euronews. 18 December 2024.
98. "China is bullying Taiwan: NATO Secy General Mark Rutte, condemns lack of transparency in nuclear expansion". The Economic Times. 15 December 2024.
99. "Ten things you didn't know about prime minister Mark Rutte". Dutch News. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
100. "Rutte: Het geloof blijft een worsteling voor mij". RD.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 October 2019.
101. "Mark Rutte als leraar: 'Hij is grappig, beetje streng en neemt nooit zijn telefoon op'". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 8 October 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
102. Den Hartog, Tobias; Van Soest, Tobias (9 June 2024). "Mark Rutte is al begonnen om zichzelf in Nederland uit te gummen: 'Hij wil echt de schaduw in'" [Mark Rutte has already started to erase himself in the Netherlands: 'He really wants to enter the shadows']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 June 2024.
103. Leland, John (13 May 2016). "The Dutch Prime Minister Is a Big Fan of Robert Caro". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
104. "Mark Rutte (the prime minister of the Netherlands) Continues to Drive Saab". Saab Planet. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
105. Rubio, Ilah (10 July 2023). "Gemengde gevoelens over vertrek Mark Rutte in zijn eigen buurt: 'Op wie moet ik nu stemmen?'" [Mixed feelings about Mark Rutte's departure in his own neighbourhood: 'Who should I vote for now?']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 July 2023.
106. Conradi, Peter (26 July 2020). "Holland's 'Mr No' Mark Rutte sees off EU but risks putting Eurosceptics in saddle". The Times. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
107. 2019-S8 – Honorary Companion (AC) in General Division (9 October 2019)
108. "[DNF] Fotoarchief Denieuwsfoto". www.ppe-agency.com.
109. "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana".
110. @LucFrieden (7 June 2024). "Very happy to welcome my friend, Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Luxembourg..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
111. "Besluit van 2 juli 2024, nr. 2024001724, houdende verlening van een onderscheiding aan oud-Minister-President Mark Rutte". Staatscourant. 4 July 2024.
112. "Oud-premier Rutte krijgt hoge onderscheiding van koning". Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 5 July 2024.
113. Про відзначення державними нагородами України – official website of the Parliament of Ukraine
114. Van de Ven, Liam (30 November 2024). "Op het VVD-congres worden de critici vakkundig doodgeknuffeld" [At the VVD convention, critics are expertly hugged to death]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
115. "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021.

External links

• Mark Rutte, official NATO profile
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Further reading

• Koning, Petra de (2022). Mark Rutte (in Dutch). Brooklyn. ISBN 9789492754424.
• Fresen, Ron; Borgman, Wilma (2024). Het raadsel Rutte (in Dutch). Balans. ISBN 9789463823302.
• Ornstein, Leonard; Schut, Mattias (2024). De laatste dagen (in Dutch). Hollands Diep. ISBN 9789048875887.

v t e Mark Rutte
42nd Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2010–2024)
Premiership	First Rutte cabinet Second Rutte cabinet Third Rutte cabinet Fourth Rutte cabinet International trips
Elections	2010 general election 2012 general election 2017 general election 2021 general election
Events	Dutch childcare benefits scandal 2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 2018 Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Affiliations	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) Frugal Four

Links to related articles

v t e Secretaries general of NATO Lord Ismay Paul-Henri Spaak Dirk Stikker Manlio Brosio Joseph Luns Lord Carrington Manfred Wörner Sergio Balanzino* Willy Claes Sergio Balanzino* Javier Solana Lord Robertson of Port Ellen Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo* Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Anders Fogh Rasmussen Jens Stoltenberg Mark Rutte *Acting v t e Prime ministers of the Netherlands Schimmelpenninck De Kempenaer Thorbecke Van Hall Van der Brugghen Rochussen Van Hall Ja. Van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Heemstra Thorbecke Fransen van de Putte Ju. Van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Bosse Thorbecke De Vries J. Heemskerk Kappeyne van de Coppello Van Lynden van Sandenburg J. Heemskerk Mackay Van Tienhoven Roëll Pierson Kuyper De Meester T. Heemskerk Cort van der Linden Ruijs de Beerenbrouck Colijn De Geer Ruijs de Beerenbrouck Colijn De Geer Gerbrandy Schermerhorn Beel Drees Beel De Quay Marijnen Cals Zijlstra De Jong Biesheuvel Den Uyl Van Agt Lubbers Kok Balkenende Rutte Schoof List (education ◌ religion) v t e Fourth Rutte cabinet (2022–2024) Ministers General Affairs Mark Rutte (2022–2024; Prime Minister) Interior and Kingdom Relations Hanke Bruins Slot (2022–2023) Hugo de Jonge (2023–2024) Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra (2022–2023; Deputy Prime Minister) Hanke Bruins Slot (2023–2024) Finance Sigrid Kaag (2022–2024; Deputy Prime Minister) Steven van Weyenberg (2024) Justice and Security Dilan Yeşilgöz (2022–2024) Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Micky Adriaansens (2022–2024) Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Henk Staghouwer (2022) Piet Adema (2022–2024) Defence Kajsa Ollongren (2022–2024) Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers (2022–2024) Conny Helder (2024) Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf (2022–2024) Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers (2022–2024) Social Affairs and Employment Karien van Gennip (2022–2024; Deputy Prime Minister 2023–2024) Ministers without portfolio Housing and Spatial Planning Hugo de Jonge (2022–2024) Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher (2022–2023; 2024) Geoffrey van Leeuwen (2023–2024 ad interim) Legal Protection Franc Weerwind (2022–2024) Climate and Energy Policy Rob Jetten (2022–2024; Deputy Prime Minister 2024) Nature and Nitrogen Policy Christianne van der Wal (2022–2024) Long-term Care and Sport Conny Helder (2022–2024) Medical Care Pia Dijkstra (2024) Primary and Secondary Education Dennis Wiersma (2022–2023) Mariëlle Paul (2023–2024) Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions Carola Schouten (2022–2024; Deputy Prime Minister) State Secretaries Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation Alexandra van Huffelen (2022–2024) Tax Affairs Marnix van Rij (2022–2024) Benefits and Customs Aukje de Vries (2022–2024) Asylum and Migration Policy Eric van der Burg (2022–2024) Extractive Industries Hans Vijlbrief (2022–2024) Defence Christophe van der Maat (2022–2024) Culture and Media Gunay Uslu (2022–2023) Steven van Weyenberg (2023–2024) Fleur Gräper (2024) Infrastructure and Water Management Vivianne Heijnen (2022–2024) Health, Welfare and Sport Maarten van Ooijen (2022–2024) Preceded by: Third Rutte cabinet Succeeded by: Schoof cabinet v t e Third Rutte cabinet (2017–2022) Ministers General Affairs Mark Rutte (2017–2022; Prime Minister) Interior and Kingdom Relations Kajsa Ollongren (2017–2019; Deputy Prime Minister) Raymond Knops (2019–2020 ad interim) Kajsa Ollongren (2020–2022; Deputy Prime Minister) Foreign Affairs Halbe Zijlstra (2017–2018) Sigrid Kaag (2018 ad interim) Stef Blok (2018–2021) Sigrid Kaag (2021) Tom de Bruijn (2021 ad interim) Ben Knapen (2021–2022) Finance Wopke Hoekstra (2017–2022) Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus (2017–2022) Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Eric Wiebes (2017–2021) Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (2021 ad interim) Bas van 't Wout (2021) Stef Blok (2021–2022) Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Carola Schouten (2017–2022; Deputy Prime Minister) Defence Ank Bijleveld (2017–2021) Ferdinand Grapperhaus (2021 ad interim) Henk Kamp (2021–2022) Health, Welfare and Sport Hugo de Jonge (2017–2022; Deputy Prime Minister) Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven (2017–2022) Infrastructure and Water Management Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (2017–2021) Barbara Visser (2021–2022) Social Affairs and Employment Wouter Koolmees (2017–2022; Deputy Prime Minister 2019–2020 ad interim) Ministers without portfolio Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag (2017–2021) Tom de Bruijn (2021–2022) Legal Protection Sander Dekker (2017–2022) Medical Care Bruno Bruins (2017–2020) Martin van Rijn (2020) Tamara van Ark (2020–2021) Primary and Secondary Education and Media Arie Slob (2017–2022) Environment and Housing Stientje van Veldhoven (2019–2020) State Secretaries Interior and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops (2017–2022) Finance Menno Snel (2017–2019) Hans Vijlbrief (2020–2022) Alexandra van Huffelen (2020–2022) Justice and Security Mark Harbers (2017–2019) Ankie Broekers-Knol (2019–2022) Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Mona Keijzer (2017–2021) Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius (2021–2022) Defence Barbara Visser (2017–2021) Health, Welfare and Sport Paul Blokhuis (2017–2022) Infrastructure and Water Management Stientje van Veldhoven (2017–2019; 2020–2021) Steven van Weyenberg (2021–2022) Social Affairs and Employment Tamara van Ark (2017–2020) Bas van 't Wout (2020–2021) Dennis Wiersma (2021–2022) Preceded by: Second Rutte cabinet Succeeded by: Fourth Rutte cabinet v t e Second Rutte cabinet (2012–2017) Ministers General Affairs Mark Rutte (2012–2017; Prime Minister) Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk (2012–2016) Stef Blok (2016 ad interim) Ronald Plasterk (2016–2017) Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans (2012–2014) Bert Koenders (2014–2017) Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem (2012–2017) Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten (2012–2015) Stef Blok (2015 ad interim) Ard van der Steur (2015–2017) Stef Blok (2017) Economic Affairs Henk Kamp (2012–2017) Defence Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (2012–2017) Klaas Dijkhoff (2017) Health, Welfare and Sport Edith Schippers (2012–2017) Education, Culture and Science Jet Bussemaker (2012–2017) Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen (2012–2017) Social Affairs and Employment Lodewijk Asscher (2012–2017; Deputy Prime Minister) Ministers without portfolio Housing and the Central Government Sector Stef Blok (2012–2017) Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen (2012–2017) State Secretaries Finance Frans Weekers (2012–2014) Eric Wiebes (2014–2017) Security and Justice Fred Teeven (2012–2015) Klaas Dijkhoff (2015–2017) Economic Affairs Co Verdaas (2012) Sharon Dijksma (2012–2015) Martijn van Dam (2015–2017) Health, Welfare and Sport Martin van Rijn (2012–2017) Education, Culture and Science Sander Dekker (2012–2017) Infrastructure and the Environment Wilma Mansveld (2012–2015) Sharon Dijksma (2015–2017) Social Affairs and Employment Jetta Klijnsma (2012–2017) Preceded by: First Rutte cabinet Succeeded by: Third Rutte cabinet v t e First Rutte cabinet (2010–2012) Preceded by: Demissionary fourth Balkenende cabinet Succeeded by: Second Rutte cabinet Prime Minister Mark Rutte (General Affairs) Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen (Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation) Ministers Piet Hein Donner (Interior and Kingdom Relations) (2010–2011) Liesbeth Spies (Interior and Kingdom Relations) (from 2011) Uri Rosenthal (Foreign Affairs) Jan Kees de Jager (Finance) Ivo Opstelten (Security and Justice) Hans Hillen (Defence) Edith Schippers (Health, Welfare and Sport) Marja van Bijsterveldt (Education, Culture and Science) Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure and the Environment) Henk Kamp (Social Affairs and Employment) Minister without portfolio Gerd Leers (Immigration, Integration and Asylum Affairs) State secretaries Ben Knapen (Foreign Affairs) Frans Weekers (Finance) Fred Teeven (Security and Justice) Henk Bleker (Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation) Marlies Veldhuijzen van Zanten (Health, Welfare and Sport) Halbe Zijlstra (Education, Culture and Science) Joop Atsma (Infrastructure and the Environment) Paul de Krom (Social Affairs and Employment) v t e Netherlands state secretaries for education Ministry of Education, Culture and Science Cals De Waal Höppener Stubenrouch Janssen Scholten Grosheide Van de Laar Schelfhout Klein Veerman De Jong Hermes Deetman Ginjaar-Maas Van Leijenhorst Wallage 't Veld Cohen Netelenbos Nuis Adelmund Van der Ploeg Nijs Van Leeuwen Van der Laan Rutte Bruins Van Bijsterveldt Dijksma Zijlstra Dekker Uslu Van Weyenberg Gräper Paul v t e State secretaries for social affairs of the Netherlands Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment Van Rhijn Muntendam Roolvink De Meijer Bartels Kruisinga Rietkerk Mertens De Graaf Dales d'Ancona Van Zeil De Graaf Kappeyne van de Coppello Ter Veld Wallage Linschoten De Grave Hoogervorst Verstand Rutte Bijlhout Phoa Van Hoof Aboutaleb Klijnsma De Krom Klijnsma Van Ark Van 't Wout Wiersma Nobel v t e Second Balkenende cabinet (2003–2006) Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (General Affairs) Deputy Prime Ministers Gerrit Zalm (Finance) Thom de Graaf (Government Reform and Kingdom Relations) (2003–2005) Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (Economic Affairs) (2005–2006) Ministers Johan Remkes (Interior) Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (Foreign Affairs) (2003) Ben Bot (Foreign Affairs) (from 2003) Piet Hein Donner (Justice) Gerrit Zalm (Economic Affairs) (ad interim) Henk Kamp (Defence) Hans Hoogervorst (Health, Welfare and Sport) Maria van der Hoeven (Education, Culture and Science) Karla Peijs (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Cees Veerman (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) Aart Jan de Geus (Social Affairs and Employment) Sybilla Dekker (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) Ministers without portfolio Rita Verdonk (Integration and Immigration) Agnes van Ardenne (Development Cooperation) Alexander Pechtold (Government Reform and Kingdom Relations) (2005–2006) State secretaries Atzo Nicolaï (Foreign Affairs) Joop Wijn (Finance) Karien van Gennip (Economic Affairs) Cees van der Knaap (Defence) Annette Nijs (Education, Culture and Science) (2003–2004) Medy van der Laan (Education, Culture and Science) Mark Rutte (Education, Culture and Science) (2004–2006) Bruno Bruins (Education, Culture and Science) (from 2006) Clémence Ross-van Dorp (Health, Welfare and Sport) Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Mark Rutte (Social Affairs and Employment) (2003–2004) Henk van Hoof (Social Affairs and Employment) (from 2004) Pieter van Geel (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) v t e First Balkenende cabinet (2002–2003) Preceded by: Second Kok cabinet Succeeded by: Second Balkenende cabinet Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (General Affairs) Deputy Prime Ministers Eduard Bomhoff (Health, Welfare and Sport) (2002) Johan Remkes (Interior and Kingdom Relations) Roelf de Boer (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) (from 2002) Ministers Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (Foreign Affairs) Hans Hoogervorst (Finance) Piet Hein Donner (Justice) Herman Heinsbroek (Economic Affairs) (2002) Hans Hoogervorst (Economic Affairs) (from 2002) Benk Korthals (Defence) (2002) Henk Kamp (Defence) (from 2002) Maria van der Hoeven (Education, Culture and Science) Aart Jan de Geus (Health, Welfare and Sport) (from 2002) Cees Veerman (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) Aart Jan de Geus (Social Affairs and Employment) Henk Kamp (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) Minister without portfolio Hilbrand Nawijn (Integration and Immigration) State secretaries Rob Hessing (Interior and Kingdom Relations) Atzo Nicolaï (Foreign Affairs) Agnes van Ardenne (Foreign Affairs) Steven van Eijck (Finance) Joop Wijn (Economic Affairs) Cees van der Knaap (Defence) Cees van Leeuwen (Education, Culture and Science) Annette Nijs (Education, Culture and Science) Clémence Ross-van Dorp (Health, Welfare and Sport) Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Jan Odink (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) Mark Rutte (Social Affairs and Employment) Philomena Bijlhout (Social Affairs and Employment) (22 July 2002) Khee Liang Phoa (Social Affairs and Employment) (from 2002) Pieter van Geel (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) v t e Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands (2021–2023) House of Representatives 31 March 2021 – 5 December 2023 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD – 34) Hermans Aartsen ‹Van Ark› Becker Bevers Bijenhof Brekelmans Van Campen Ellian Erkens Grevink P. de Groot ‹Harbers› Haverkort Heerema Heinen Van den Hil ‹Idsinga› Kamminga Klink Koerhuis De Kort Michon Minhas ‹De Neef› ‹Paul› Rahimi Rajkowski Richardson ‹Rutte› C. Simons Smals Van Strien Strolenberg ‹Tellegen› Tielen Valstar Verkuijlen ‹De Vries› ‹Wiersma› ‹Van Wijngaarden› Van der Woude ‹Van 't Wout› El Yassini ‹Yeşilgöz-Zegerius› Democrats 66 (D66 – 24) Paternotte Belhaj Bergkamp (Speaker) ‹Van Beukering› Boucke Boulakjar Van Breugel Dekker-Abdulaziz Van Ginneken T. de Groot Hagen Hammelburg ‹Jetten› R. de Jong ‹Kaag› Kat Van der Laan ‹Van Meenen› Paulusma Podt Raemakers Sahla Sjoerdsma ‹Smeets› Sneller H. Teunissen ‹Vijlbrief› Warmerdam (Van der Werf) Van Weyenberg Wuite Party for Freedom (PVV – 16) Wilders Agema Beertema Bosma Van Dijck Fritsma De Graaf Graus L. de Jong Kops Madlener Maeijer Markuszower E. Mulder De Roon Van Weerdenburg Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA – 14) Bontenbal Amhaouch Van den Berg Boswijk Van den Brink I. van Dijk ‹Geurts› Heerma ‹Hoekstra› ‹Keijzer› ‹Knops› Krul Kuik ‹Van der Molen› ‹A. Mulder› Palland Peters Slootweg Vedder Werner Socialist Party (SP – 9) Marijnissen Alkaya Beckerman Dijk J. van Dijk ‹Futselaar› ‹Hijink› Van Kent Kwint ‹Leijten› Van Nispen Temmink Labour Party (PvdA – 9) Kuiken ‹Arib› Bushoff ‹G. van Dijk› De Hoop Kathmann Mutluer Nijboer Piri ‹Ploumen› Thijssen GroenLinks (GL – 8) Klaver Bouchallikht Bromet Ellemeet Kröger Van der Lee Maatoug ‹Snels› Westerveld Party for the Animals (PvdD – 6) Ouwehand ‹Akerboom› Van Esch Van Raan C. Teunissen Vestering Wassenberg Forum for Democracy (FVD – 5) Baudet ‹Dekker› Van Houwelingen Jansen Kerseboom Van Meijeren Christian Union (CU – 5) Bikker Ceder Drost Van der Graaf Grinwis ‹Schouten› ‹Segers› Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB – 4) Van der Plas Eppink Helder Pouw-Verweij Reformed Political Party (SGP – 3) Stoffer Bisschop Van der Staaij DENK (DENK – 3) Van Baarle Azarkan Kuzu Volt Netherlands (Volt – 2) Dassen ‹Boutkan› Koekkoek JA21 (JA21 – 1) Eerdmans ‹Goudzwaard› Den Haan Group (FDH – 1) Den Haan BIJ1 (BIJ1 – 1) S. Simons Van Haga Group (Indep. – 3) Van Haga Smolders Member Ephraim (Indep. – 1) Ephraim Member Gündoğan (Indep. – 1) Gündoğan Member Omtzigt (Indep. – 1) Omtzigt  Bold  indicates the parliamentary leader (first mentioned) and the Speaker;  (Brackets)  indicate a temporarily absent member;  Italics  indicate a temporary member;  ‹Guillemets›  indicate a member who has left the House of Representatives See also: Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2019–2023 · Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2023–2027 v t e Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands (2017–2021) House of Representatives 23 March 2017 – 31 March 2021 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD – 32) Dijkhoff ‹Van Ark› Aartsen ‹Azmani› Becker Bolkestein Van den Bosch Bosman ‹Ten Broeke› ‹Dekker› R. Dijkstra ‹Duisenberg› El Yassini Van Gent Harbers Heerema ‹Hennis-Plasschaert› Hermans Koerhuis Koopmans Laan-Geselschap ‹De Lange› Van der Linde Lodders Middendorp ‹A. Mulder› Nijkerken-de Haan ‹Van Oosten› Regterschot ‹A. Rutte› ‹M. Rutte› Smals Snoeren Tellegen Tielen Veldman ‹Visser› De Vries Weverling Wiersma Van Wijngaarden Wörsdörfer ‹Van 't Wout› Yeşilgöz-Zegerius Ziengs ‹Zijlstra› Party for Freedom (PVV – 20) Wilders Van Aalst Agema Beertema Bosma Van Dijck E. van Dijk Fritsma ‹Gerbrands› De Graaf Graus Helder Jansen De Jong Kops Madlener (Maeijer) Markuszower E. Mulder ‹Popken› De Roon De Vree Van Weerdenburg Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA – 19) Heerma Amhaouch Van den Anker Van den Berg ‹Bruins Slot› C. van Dam Geluk-Poortvliet Geurts ‹Van Haersma Buma› Van Helvert ‹Keijzer› ‹Knops› Kuik Von Martels Van der Molen A.H. Mulder Omtzigt Palland De Pater-Postma Peters ‹Rog› ‹Ronnes› Slootweg Terpstra Van Toorenburg Democrats 66 (D66 – 19) Jetten Belhaj Bergkamp Van Beukering ‹Den Boer› Bouali Diertens P. Dijkstra Van Eijs ‹Van Engelshoven› De Groot Groothuizen ‹Koolmees› Van Meenen Paternotte ‹Pechtold› Raemakers Schonis Sienot Sjoerdsma Sneller ‹Van Veldhoven› Verhoeven Van Weyenberg GroenLinks (GL – 14) Klaver Bromet Van den Berge Buitenweg ‹Diks› Ellemeet ‹Grashoff› Kröger Van der Lee Van den Nieuwenhuijzen Van Ojik ‹Özdil› Özütok Renkema Smeulders Snels ‹Van Tongeren› ‹Voortman› Westerveld Socialist Party (SP – 14) Marijnissen Alkaya Beckerman J. van Dijk Futselaar Van Gerven Hijink Karabulut Van Kent ‹Kooiman› Kwint Laçin Leijten Van Nispen Van Raak ‹Roemer› Labour Party (PvdA – 9) Ploumen Arib (Speaker) Asscher G. van Dijk ‹Dijksma› ‹Dijsselbloem› Van den Hul Kerstens Kuiken Moorlag Nijboer Christian Union (CU – 5) Segers Bruins Dik-Faber Van der Graaf ‹Schouten› Voordewind Party for the Animals (PvdD – 4) Ouwehand ‹Thieme› Van Esch Van Raan Wassenberg 50PLUS (50+ – 3) Van Brenk Van Otterloo ‹Van Rooijen› Sazias Reformed Political Party (SGP – 3) Van der Staaij Bisschop ‹Dijkgraaf› Stoffer DENK (DENK – 3) Azarkan Kuzu Öztürk Forum for Democracy (FVD – 2) Baudet Van Haga ‹Hiddema› (vacant) Member Krol (Indep. – 1) Krol Member Van Kooten-Arissen (Indep. – 1) Van Kooten-Arissen  Bold  indicates the parliamentary leader (first mentioned) and the Speaker;  (Brackets)  indicate a temporarily absent member;  Italics  indicate a temporary member;  ‹Guillemets›  indicate a member who has left the House of Representatives See also: Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2015–2019 · 2019–2023 v t e Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands (2012–2017) House of Representatives 20 September 2012 – 23 March 2017 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD – 40) Zijlstra Van Ark Azmani Berckmoes-Duindam ‹Blok› De Boer Bosma Bosman Ten Broeke Van der Burg De Caluwé ‹Dijkhoff› R. Dijkstra Duisenberg Elias Geselschap Harbers Heerema ‹Hennis-Plasschaert› ‹Huizing› De Lange ‹Leegte› ‹De Liefde› Van der Linde ‹Litjens› Lodders ‹Lucas› Van Miltenburg (Speaker, 2012–15) Moors A. Mulder Neppérus ‹Van Nieuwenhuizen› Nijkerken-de Haan Van Oosten Potters Van der Ree A. Rutte ‹M. Rutte› ‹Schippers› Schut-Welkzijn ‹Van der Steur› Straus Taverne Teeven Tellegen ‹Van Veen› Veldman ‹Verheijen› Visser A. de Vries Vuijk ‹Weekers› Van Wijngaarden Van 't Wout Ziengs Labour Party (PvdA – 35) Kuiken Arib (Speaker, 2015–17) Asante ‹Bonis› Bouwmeester Brouwer Çegerek ‹Van Dam› Van Dekken ‹O. van Dijk› ‹Dijsselbloem› Dikkers Eijsink Fokke Groot Günal-Gezer ‹Hamer› ‹Heijnen› ‹Hilkens› Hoogland Jacobi ‹Jadnanansing› Kerstens ‹Klijnsma› Van Laar Leenders Maij Marcouch Mohandis Nijboer Oosenbrug ‹Plasterk› Recourt ‹Samsom› Servaes Tanamal ‹Timmermans› ‹Ünver› Van der Velde Vermeij Vermue Volp J. Vos M. Vos A.A. de Vries Wolbert Ypma Yücel Socialist Party (SP – 15) Roemer Bashir Van Bommel J. van Dijk Van Gerven Gesthuizen ‹Jansen› Karabulut Kooiman Leijten Merkies Van Nispen Van Raak Siderius Smaling ‹Smits› ‹Swinkels› Ulenbelt ‹De Wit› Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA – 13) Van Haersma Buma Amhaouch Bruins Slot Geurts Heerma Van Helvert ‹Van Hijum› Keijzer Knops A.H. Mulder Omtzigt ‹Oskam› Rog Ronnes ‹De Rouwe› Van Toorenburg Party for Freedom (PVV – 12) Wilders Agema Beertema Bosma Van Dijck Fritsma ‹Gerbrands› De Graaf Graus Helder Klever Madlener De Roon Democrats 66 (D66 – 12) Pechtold Belhaj Bergkamp ‹Berndsen› P. Dijkstra ‹Hachchi› Koolmees Koşer Kaya Van Meenen ‹Schouw› Sjoerdsma Swinkels Van Veldhoven Verhoeven Van Weyenberg Christian Union (CU – 5) Segers Bruins Dik-Faber Schouten ‹Slob› Voordewind GroenLinks (GL – 4) Klaver ‹Ellemeet› Grashoff ‹Van Ojik› ‹Sap› Van Tongeren Voortman Reformed Political Party (SGP – 3) Van der Staaij Bisschop Dijkgraaf Party for the Animals (PvdD – 2) Thieme Ouwehand ‹Wassenberg› 50PLUS (50+ – 1) Krol ‹Baay-Timmerman› Bontes/Van Klaveren Group (Indep. – 2) Bontes Van Klaveren Kuzu/Öztürk Group (Indep. – 2) Kuzu Öztürk Member Van Vliet (Indep. – 1) Van Vliet Member Klein (Indep. – 1) Klein Member Houwers (Indep. – 1) Houwers Member Monasch (Indep. – 1) Monasch  Abc  signifies the parliamentary leader (first mentioned) and the Speaker;  (Abc)  signifies a temporarily absent member;  Abc  signifies a temporary member;  ‹Abc›  signifies a member who prematurely left the House of Representatives See also: Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2011–2015 · 2015–2019 v t e Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands (2010–2012) House of Representatives, 17 June 2010 – 19 September 2012 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (31) Blok Aptroot Van Ark Azmani Van Beek Berckmoes-Duindam De Boer Bosman Ten Broeke Van der Burg De Caluwé <Dezentjé Hamming-Bluemink> Dijkhoff Elias Harbers Hennis-Plasschaert Houwers Huizing <De Krom> Leegte De Liefde Lodders Lucas Van Miltenburg Mulder Neppérus <Nicolaï> Van Nieuwenhuizen <Rutte> Schaart <Schippers> Snijder-Hazelhoff Van der Steur Straus Taverne <Teeven> <Weekers> Ziengs <Zijlstra> Labour Party (30) Samsom Albayrak Arib Bouwmeester Çelik <Cohen> Van Dam Van Dekken Dijksma Dijsselbloem Dikkers Eijsink Groot Hamer Heijnen Hilkens Jacobi Jadnanansing Klijnsma <Kraneveldt> Kuiken De Lange <Leerdam> Marcouch Monasch Plasterk Recourt Smeets <Spekman> Timmermans Van der Veen Verbeet (Speaker) Vermeij Wolbert Christian Democratic Appeal (21) Van Haersma Buma <Atsma> <Bijleveld> <Bijsterveldt> Biskop Blanksma-van den Heuvel Van Bochove Bruins Slot Çörüz Ferrier Haverkamp Van Hijum Holtackers <De Jager> <Joldersma> <Klink> Knops Koopmans Koppejan Omtzigt Ormel De Rouwe Smilde Sterk Van Toorenburg Uitslag <Verburg> <Verhagen> Van der Werf Party for Freedom (20) Wilders Agema Beertema Van den Besselaar Bontes Bosma Van Dijck Dille Driessen Elissen Fritsma Gerbrands Graus Helder De Jong Van Klaveren Lucassen De Mos De Roon <Sharpe> Van Vliet Socialist Party (15) Roemer Bashir Van Bommel Van Dijk Van Gerven Gesthuizen Irrgang Jansen <Janssen> Karabulut Kooiman Leijten Van Raak Smits Ulenbelt De Wit Democrats 66 (10) Pechtold Berndsen Dijkstra Hachchi Van der Ham Koolmees Koşer Kaya Schouw Van Veldhoven Verhoeven GroenLinks (10) Sap <Van den Berge> Braakhuis Dibi El Fassed Van Gent Grashoff <Halsema> Klaver Peters Van Tongeren Voortman Christian Union (5) Slob Ortega <Rouvoet> Schouten Voordewind Wiegman Reformed Political Party (2) Van der Staaij Dijkgraaf Party for the Animals (2) Thieme <Hazekamp> Ouwehand Independents (4) Groep Kortenoeven/Hernandez Kortenoeven Hernandez Lid-Brinkman Brinkman Lid-Van Bemmel Van Bemmel See also: Members of the House of Representatives, 2006–2010, Members of the House of Representatives, 2012–2017, Members of the Senate, 2011–2015 v t e Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands (2006–2010) House of Representatives, 30 November 2006 – 16 June 2010 Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA – 41) Van Geel Aasted-Madsen Algra Atsma <Balkenende> Bilder Biskop Blanksma-Van den Heuvel Van Bochove <Van de Camp> Çörüz Van Dijk <Donner> Eski Ferrier <Van Gennip> Van Haersma Buma Haverkamp <Hessels> <Van Heugten> Van Hijum <Van der Hoeven> Ten Hoopen Jager Joldersma Jonker <Van der Knaap> Knops Koopmans Koppejan <Kortenhorst> Mastwijk de Nerée tot Babberich Omtzigt Ormel De Pater-Van der Meer Pieper De Rouwe Schermers Schinkelshoek Schreijer-Pierik Smilde Spies Sterk Van Toorenburg Uitslag <Verburg> <Verhagen> Vietsch De Vries Van Vroonhoven-Kok <Wijn> Willemse-Van der Ploeg Labour Party (PvdA – 33) Hamer Albayrak Arib Besselink Blom Boelhouwer <Bos> Bouchibti Bouwmeester <Bussemaker> <Crone> Van Dam <Depla> Van Dijken <Dijksma> Dijsselbloem Eijsink Gill'ard Heerts Heijnen Jacobi Kalma <Koenders> Kraneveldt Kuiken <Laaper> Leerdam Linhard Roefs Samsom Smeets Spekman Tang <Tichelaar> Timmer <Timmermans> Van der Veen Verbeet (Speaker) Vermeij Vos Waalkens Wolbert <Wolfson> <Yücel> Socialist Party (SP – 25) Kant <Abel> Bashir Van Bommel Van Dijk Gerkens Van Gerven Gesthuizen <Van Gijlswijk> Irrgang Jansen Karabulut Langkamp Van Leeuwen Leijten Lempens Luijben Marijnissen Polderman Poppe Van Raak Roemer De Rooij <De Roos> Smits Ulenbelt Van Velzen de Wit People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD – 21) Rutte Aptroot <Van Baalen> Van Beek Blok <Boekestijn> Ten Broeke Van der Burg Dezentjé Hamming-Bluemink <Elias> Griffith Harbers Kamp De Krom Meeuwis Van Miltenburg Neppérus Nicolaï Remkes Schippers Snijder-Hazelhoff Teeven Weekers Zijlstra Party for Freedom (PVV – 9) Wilders Agema Bosma Brinkman Van Dijck Fritsma Graus <Madlener> De Mos De Roon GroenLinks (GL – 7) Halsema Azough Dibi <Diks> <Duyvendak> Van Gent Peters Sap Vendrik Christian Union (CU – 6) Slob Anker Cramer <Huizinga> Ortega <Rouvoet> Voordewind Wiegman Democrats 66 (D66 – 3) Pechtold Van der Ham Kaya Party for the Animals (PvdD – 2) Thieme Ouwehand Reformed Political Party (SGP – 2) Van der Vlies Van der Staaij Independent (Lid-Verdonk – 1) Verdonk Underline signifies the parliamentary leader (first mentioned) and the Speaker Angle brackets signify a replacement member or a member who prematurely left this House of Representatives See also: Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2010–2012 v t e People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Leaders Oud Toxopeus Geertsema Wiegel Nijpels De Korte Voorhoeve Bolkestein Dijkstal Zalm Van Aartsen Rutte Yeşilgöz Chairs Stikker Oud Van der Pols Van Someren Korthals Altes Kamminga Ginjaar Van Leeuwen-Schut Hoekzema Eenhoorn Van Zanen Opstelten Korthals Keizer Van der Wal Hoes Wetzels Parliamentary leaders in the Senate Molenaar Van Riel Van Someren Zoutendijk Luteijn Korthals Altes Ginjaar Van den Broek-Laman Trip Rosenthal De Graaf Hermans Jorritsma Schippers Parliamentary leaders in the House of Representatives Oud Toxopeus Geertsema Toxopeus Geertsema Wiegel Rietkerk Wiegel Nijpels Voorhoeve Bolkestein Dijkstal Zalm Van Aartsen Van Beek Rutte Blok Rutte Zijlstra Rutte Zijlstra Dijkhoff Rutte Hermans Yeşilgöz Party organisations Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy Telders Foundation Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Renew Europe Liberal International Leadership elections 2006