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Transatlanticist with good hands. What else is known about the new NATO Secretary General

2024-06-28

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Andrey Zvorykin

[REGNUM] On June 26, 2024, it became known that on October 2 of this year, the new, fourteenth Secretary General of NATO will be the former head of the government of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, who recently resigned as prime minister of the kingdom.

There has been speculation for quite some time about who will replace the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, who was Secretary General for almost ten years, in the combat post of head of the “defensive” (as he positions himself) alliance.

The London Telegraph two years ago confidently wrote that ex-Prime Minister and catalyst of the Ukrainian conflict Boris Johnson would sit in the post of Secretary General. The Canadian CBC predicted the “secretary general” for the head of the Canadian Ministry of Finance, the ethnic Ukrainian Chrystia Freeland.

Up until a certain point, there were two more ladies on the shortlist: former British Prime Minister Theresa May and her current Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas. In general, the transformation of the alliance into a "women's kingdom" was the most common forecast, and it was the Baltic women who were mentioned most often: former Lithuanian Prime Minister Dalia Grybauskaite and former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid were mentioned. In addition, it was said that the Balkans could be encouraged by inviting former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic as Secretary General.

But the four main players in the alliance – the USA, Britain, France and Germany – came out in support of the man from Old Europe – Mark Rutte.

“I know that I am leaving NATO in good hands,” Jens Stoltenberg commented on the appointment on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Why would a Norwegian hand over his post to a Dutchman?

AN OLD BACHELOR WITH A TEFLON REPUTATION
Mark Rutte was born on February 14, 1967 in The Hague, the birthplace of the artist Vermeer, the group Shocking Blue, and one of the de facto capitals of the kingdom: the parliament and the cabinet of ministers sit in The Hague, and the royal residence is also located here. But what is more important is that the headquarters of globalist and Atlanticist structures, about one hundred and fifty in number, are concentrated here. In this “city of peace and justice” (the official title of The Hague), the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sat, Slobodan Milosevic died here, and the headquarters of the International Criminal Court are also here.

Rutte, who had a successful career that earned him the nickname "Teflon Mark," was an early graduate of the globalist school. The future prime minister was born into a family of one of the country's richest citizens, the director of a large trading company that made money in the colony of the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia.

The family professed rather strict religious views of the Calvinist persuasion, Mark was the seventh child. The future politician received a history education, graduating in 1992 from Leiden University with a corresponding specialization. After completing his studies, he worked at Unilever, a company engaged in the production of food and household chemicals (and at the same time demonstratively caring for the environment), as a personnel manager. Since 2008, he has taught courses in sociology at the Jan de Witt College in his native The Hague.

At the same time, Mark Rutte began his political career. While still a student, the future prime minister headed the youth organization of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (NPSD). From 1993 to 1997, he was a member of the party's Executive Council.

The NPSD was created in 1948 on the basis of the conservative-liberal Freedom Party and several leaders of the Labor Party who left the latter because, in their opinion, it was too socialist. For most of the time since its founding (53 out of 75 years, from 1948 to 2023), the NPSD has been part of the ruling coalition, which was achieved due to the “half-hearted” liberal-conservative ideological direction of the party, divided by this factor into two approximately equal wings. Mark Rutte considers himself to be on the liberal wing.

In 2002–2004 he served as Secretary of State (deputy minister participating in government meetings) of labor and social protection, and after, until 2006, the formation in the government of Jan Peter Balkenende, a leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, the NPSD was a partner in the ruling coalition. At the same time, since 2003, Rutte occupied the seat of a deputy in the lower house of parliament.

In 2006, after the resignation of Josias van Aertsen, the previous chairman of the NPSD, Rutte nominated himself for this post, his main opponent was Rita Verdonk, a figure in the conservative wing of the party. During the voting, Mark won, gaining 52% of the votes against 46% for Verdonk. The following year, 2007, Rita Verdonk was expelled from the ranks of the NPSD.

The reason was that Verdonk accused her party and parliamentary colleague, Somali migrant and feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, of either not having received Dutch citizenship or having received it with violations. Ali's documents were corrected, the conservative Verdonk was ostracized, and "Teflon Mark", who did not interfere in the scandal, came out on top.

Let us add that Rutte’s personal reputation also seems to be unblemished – the unmarried and childless politician has nevertheless not been suspected of anything reprehensible, unlike, for example, the married family man Donald Trump.

COVID ALMOST RUINED CAREER
In 2010, Rutte led the party in the parliamentary elections and was declared the winner of the televised debates. In his election program, the liberal Rutte played with nationalist and left-wing populist agendas: he promised to tighten immigration laws, raise the retirement age and reduce benefits for immigrants, and to use the freed-up money to combat the consequences of the 2008 economic crisis.

In the October 2010 elections, the PPSD won 20% of the vote and 31 seats (9 more than before) in the second chamber of parliament. On October 14, Queen Beatrix announced the appointment of Mark Rutte as Prime Minister of the country. A coalition government of the NPSD and the Christian Democratic Party was immediately formed.

Subsequently, Mark Rutte resigned from his post and returned to it three more times: in 2012, due to disagreements over the formation of the budget, the coalition split and Rutte had to reorganize the cabinet, this time together with the Labor Party. In 2017, regular parliamentary elections were held, as a result of which Rutte again headed the cabinet.

Finally, in 2021, his government resigned again as a result of mass protests caused by anti-coronavirus measures. However, in the early elections, the cabinet of the winning coalition was again headed by Mark Rutte. In all of the above cases, between elections, Rutte led the country as acting head of government.

On 7 July 2023, Rutte submitted his resignation to King Willem-Alexander due to disagreements with the Christian Union, a coalition party, on the migration issue: the Christian Union refused to support measures to restrict migration to the Netherlands put forward by the NPSD. On 14 August, Rutte also resigned as party chairman. However, following the November 2023 elections, a new government was not formed due to the impossibility of forming a coalition, so Mark Rutte is still acting Prime Minister.

A STAUNCH PRO-UKRAINIAN
The politician was first offered the post of NATO Secretary General back in January 2023, but then Mark Rutte refused, citing a desire to end his political career after the end of his next term. However, after his resignation in July of that year, Rutte returned to the proposal.

In February 2024, it became known that the Dutch politician was the main contender for the post of Secretary General, his candidacy was supported by 28 of the 32 member countries of the alliance. The current Secretary General of the organization, former Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg, announced his resignation on October 2, 2024. In June 2024, all members of the alliance confirmed Rutte's candidacy.

It is worth mentioning that the Dutch politician, while serving as prime minister, ardently supported Ukraine back in 2014.

On March 1, 2022, almost immediately after the start of the SVO, Rutte signed a bilateral security agreement with Vladimir Zelensky, promising to provide financial assistance. Rutte also warmly supported the recent summit in Switzerland, saying that Russia has no right to participate in it until it “complies with international principles.”

"Mark is a true transatlanticist, a decisive leader and a consensus builder," Stoltenberg, his predecessor, said of Rutte.

Rutte himself said the following during his April visit to Lithuania:

"It is vital that NATO maintains deterrence, that we all understand that this border of the Baltics and other countries on the eastern flank with Belarus and Russia is our collective border... First of all, this means that we all spend at least 2 percent (of GDP) on defense. This also means strengthening the defense of the eastern flank."

So there is no need to expect any changes in the alliance’s policy towards Russia. It was in this spirit that Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov assessed the appointment:

“It is unlikely that this choice will change anything in the general line of NATO and the members of the Atlantic alliance.”

Link

Europe

Wilders lawmaker trying to ban burqas in Netherlands

2007-07-13

A Dutch rightwing anti-Islam politician on Thursday submitted new proposals for a law banning burqas after an earlier attempt failed. In a letter to parliament, Geert Wilders, who heads the Freedom Party which has nine of the 150 seats in the lower house, wrote that the burqa and the niqab are a symbol of the oppression of women and are in defiance of the democratic constitutional state.

It is not known how many women in the Netherlands wear the face veils but estimates are a few dozen. Nearly two years ago, in October 2005, a majority of the Dutch parliament voted in favour of a motion by Wilders to ban burqas in public places. However, the then minister of integration, hardliner Rita Verdonk, did not craft the law for a burqa ban after an advisory committee said such a ban could be unconstitutional because it violated the right to equal treatment for all residents of the country.

Now Wilders, known for his harsh anti-Islam rhetoric, has submitted his own law proposal and hopes parliament will agree. It is unlikely that he will get another majority as the November 2006 elections put an end to a centre-right majority in parliament that backed the plans. Wilders wants to specifically ban burqas and niqabs in public places including stations, stadiums, shops, restaurants, museums, hospitals, cars driving on the public roads and public transports. He proposes a maximum sentence of 12 days in jail or a fine of $4,619.

If the law were passed, it would be a world first. No national government has yet banned the use of face veils in public places although some Belgian municipalities, including Antwerp, have introduced local bans.

In his proposal, Wilders also cites Turkey and France. Turkey bans the wearing of veils and headscarves in public buildings while France has banned the use of obvious religious symbols like Islamic headscarves and veils in government buildings including schools and hospitals.

Link

Europe

Imam accepts invitation

2007-04-05

AMSTERDAM - Imam Ahmed Salam has accepted the invitation to talk with the Tilburg municipal council about his role in the city's society. The controversial spiritual leader told the council on Wednesday that he would accept its invitation for a talk, the imam's son Suhayb Salam has announced.

The meeting is planned for 16 April but will not be open to the public. Suhayb Salam stressed that he and his father would take this opportunity to eliminate a number of misunderstandings about statements by the imam. The two also see the meeting as an attempt to foster understanding for each other's opinions.

Imam Salam was in the news again last week when Tilburg mayor Ruud Vreeman said that he didn't belong in the Netherlands because of his recent statements. The spiritual leader is accused of having told Muslims to damage the Dutch state by not paying taxes. Salam says that this and other claims are not true. Ahmed Salam belongs to a group of conservative Salafist imams and has been monitored by the Intelligence and Security Service AIVD for years. A number of other conservative Salafists has been deported.

The Tilburg imam caused a stir in November 2004 when he refused to shake hands with minister at the time Rita Verdonk.

Link

Home Front: Culture Wars

Muslim critic finds U.S. refuge

2007-02-11

As a child, Ayaan Hirsi Ali fled violence in Somalia with her family. As an adult she fled Kenya to escape an arranged marriage. She left her adopted Holland after she was caught up in political turmoil and had her life threatened. Now Hirsi Ali a brave critic of Islam to her supporters, a bigot to her critics has found refuge in the intellectual bastion of leading U.S. conservatives.

Hirsi Ali joined the American Enterprise Institute last September, after a sometimes stormy 14 years in the Netherlands, where she was a member of parliament and became a central figure in two events that jolted the nation.

First, after she wrote a script for a film that depicted naked women with Quranic verses scrawled on their bodies, a Dutch-born Muslim gunned down the filmmaker, Theo van Gogh. A letter threatening Hirsi Ali was left on a knife plunged into van Goghs chest. Next, a fight within Hirsi Alis political party over her Dutch citizenship brought down the government.

These days, Hirsi Ali is promoting her autobiography, Infidel. It gives a graphic account of how she rejected her faith and the violence she says was inflicted on her in the name of Islam. Im an apostate. Thats why the book is called Infidel, she said in a telephone interview from New York.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations thinks Hirsi Alis campaign amounts to slander and bigotry. We believe that she will bring an increase to the level of anti-Muslim bias in this country that we saw her bring to the situation in Europe, the councils communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, said in an interview Saturday. Unfortunately her message is one of bigotry, not one of mutual understanding.

Her new colleagues at the American Enterprise Institute laud Ali Hirsi as a brave voice taking on a taboo subject. Shes very original, a very courageous thinker, and she has independence of mind, said Christina Hoff Sommers, an institute fellow who specializes, among other things, in feminism. At the institute, Hirsi Alis studies will involve Islam and women: the relationship between the West and Islam; womens rights in Islam; violence against women propagated by religious and cultural arguments; and Islam in Europe.

Many institute scholars have had a close relationship with the Bush administration. Among its senior fellows are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; and Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Cheney.

It may seem like odd company for a woman born in a Mogadishu hospital 37 years ago. Ive been accused of selling out, she said. Ive been told, Youre hanging the dirty laundry outside.

Ali Hirsis book provides a graphic account of how her grandmother had her subjected to genital mutilation, sometimes called female circumcision, when she was 5 years old. The practice began in Africa, before Islam, but some African Muslim societies still see it as a requirement of religion.

She also describes a time when she was a teenager in Kenya, a majority Christian country with many Muslim Somali refugees, and a Quran teacher cracked her skull after she challenged his insistence that students write Quranic verses on wooden boards and memorize them. I started to call him uncivilized and backward and said he lived in the time of ignorance before Islam had come around and this was an outrageous system, she said. The man bashed her head against the wall.

She lied to be accepted as a refugee in Holland, became a Dutch citizen, graduated from prestigious Leiden University and won a seat in the Dutch parliament for a party that was tough on immigration. She became known as a firebrand. That led to her collaboration with van Gogh on the short television movie, Submission. In 2004, a man enraged by the movie shot van Gogh seven times and slit his throat on an Amsterdam street, leaving the note threatening Hirsi Ali.

Her lie when she entered the country she used an assumed name caught up with her last year. By that time her falsehood was widely known, even to her good friend Rita Verdonk, the immigration minister. Because of a notorious similar case in which Verdonk expelled a young woman, she came under pressure to cancel Hirsi Alis citizenship. She did, and the six members of the governments smallest coalition party resigned in protest. The government fell, although Verdonk had used a technicality to restore Hirsi Alis Dutch citizenship.

Considering van Goghs death, and her outspokenness about Islam, Hirsi Ali said she no longer can feel safe without bodyguards in the presence of even moderate Muslims.

Unlike many world leaders, including Bush, who say Muslim terrorists are distorting the peaceful Islamic religion, Hirsi Ali said the terrorists in large part have truth on their side: The violence is in the Quran and the hadith, the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, she said. Islam today, she said, is not my grandmothers amulet-wearing, superstitious sort of Islam that is just comforting for the believer. Todays Islam sees the world as its enemy, she said. And you wage war against your enemies.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations Hooper contends that she exaggerates to further her agenda. She is just one more Muslim-basher on the lecture circuit, he said.

Link

Europe

Report: Dutch failing in efforts to solve ethnic tensions

2007-01-13

Oddly, there's no mention of which ethnicities are having tensions that require solving. I'm guessing it's the Walloons, myself.

The Netherlands is failing in efforts to solve multicultural problems among the nation's youth, raising the risk of Paris-style riots in poor Dutch city districts, an assessment has indicated. The measures that municipalities use barely contribute to the solution and are sometimes counterproductive. And very few municipalities believe that urgent change is needed. These and other conclusions were made by four 'intervention teams' which had studied multicultural tensions, primarily among youth, over the past two years. "If we don't look out, French situations will occur. That is uncontrollable," a chairman of one of the intervention teams said.

The teams appointed by Integration Minister Rita Verdonk after the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004 were presenting their final report on Wednesday. The teams claim that municipalities do not have a clear picture of the complex problems that a multicultural society creates. City councils speak about racist 'Lonsdale' youths or Antilleans, failing to realise that there are large differences within these groups.

"Yass, yasss. We are quite certain there are no common threads to be found among these large groups of sullen yoots. Ask anybody!."

Due to the simplicity in reasoning, one-sided measures were taken that were often poorly carried out. As a result, the measures failed to have any effect, the teams said.

"Seeing things only in black and white is so... judgmental. Zounds!"

The intervention teams urged for an improvement in youth policies and said a more thorough study of multicultural problems should be carried out.

"We've got the grant applications filled out and on your desk for your signature. We can start two weeks from Thursday next."

They said a more balanced policy was necessary, suggesting that it should focus, for example, on behaviour rather than groups.

"Truly, all this pigeonholing of individual spirits is harshing our mellow. A little less profiling and a little more beguiling. We have to regain their trust after all our post-colonial record of ...er... Walloonophobia."

City councils should also count on ~~cash, sweet cash~~ support from the national government, which should stimulate efforts and provide facilities to municipalities to tackle multicultural problems. The intervention teams also urged for a national taskforce to be set up to focus on multicultural youth policies. Three of the teams want to remain in place to immediately launch efforts aimed at solving multicultural problems. They would work to reduce tension between ethnic groups, improve youth safety and improve accessibility of youth welfare officers.

Link

Europe

Trojan Horse: Ankara Influenced Dutch Election Results

2006-12-08

From the desk of Paul Belien

Yesterday evening, the Dutch television program Nova caused considerable embarrassment in the Netherlands by revealing how the Turkish government influenced last months Dutch general elections. In an e-mail sent to thousands of ethnic Turks in the Netherlands the Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs called on them to vote for Fatma Koser Kaya, a 38-year old woman whose family emigrated to the Netherlands when she was six years old. Koser Kaya is a member of the leftist social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) party. On 22 November, D66 lost three of its previous six seats in Parliament. Koser Kaya, however, though only sixth on the list of D66 candidates, was elected as one of the partys three parliamentarians thanks to the 34,564 individual votes she got, possibly as a result of the Turkish governments interference.

Immigrants are known to overwhelmingly vote for candidates of their own ethnic group. Since they have often not integrated in the country where they have settled their loyalties lie with their countries of origin. This has created a situation where the immigrants in Western democracies become Trojan horses of foreign nationalism and religious fanaticism. This phenomenon became apparent in this years local elections in the Netherlands and in neighbouring Belgium. It tipped the balance in favour of parties that put forward immigrant candidates. At the same time, however, it worked to the disadvantage of indigenous candidates on these parties lists, causing considerable resentment among the latter.

In an e-mail, sent from a government address in Ankara, the Turks in the Netherlands were asked to vote for Koser Kaya. The e-mail was sent by Ali Alaybeyoglu, the advisor to Mehmet Aydin, the Turkish minister of Religious Affairs. The first paragraph reads:

We all realize that no-one can represent Turks better than Turks. The Turkish community is threatened by assimilation.
All is said, isn't it? Not muslim dutch, not even dutch muslims, but muslims living in Holland.
If we do not unite and vote for a common candidate our position will only worsen in future.

The e-mail lists five reasons why Turks should vote for Koser Kaya. The most important one is the fact that D66 does not recognize the Turkish genocide of the Armenians in 1915. The four other reasons have to do with D66s opposition to the policies of Rita Verdonk, the Dutch minister of Integration.

The Armenian issue became a topic in the Dutch general elections when the two leading parties in the country, the Christian-Democrats and Labour, refused to put forward candidates of Turkish origin who did not accept the party line that there was a genocide of the Armenians in 1915. As a reaction Turkish lobby groups initiated a campaign to urge Dutch voters of Turkish ancestry to boycott any party that labels the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide.

The e-mail from the Turkish ministry lists the Dutch parties and points out why, apart from D66, they are not acceptable to Turks. The Christian-Democrats and Labour are excluded because of their position on the genocide, the Liberal Party VVD because it is the party of Verdonk and Hirsi Ali, the Animal Rights Party because it considers animals to be more important than Turks, and the Calvinist Party because it is preparing a new crusade.

Today, the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted Ankara about the affair. The Turkish Minister of Religious Affairs said he knows nothing about an e-mail. Minister Aydin added that if this e-mail had indeed been sent he strongly condemns it. We do not interfere in the internal politics of our friends, he said. Aydins collaborator Alaybeyoglu, the man who allegedly sent the e-mail, said that several people have access to his e-mail address. According to the Dutch ministry the matter is still under investigation.

See links for sources and more material.

Link

Europe

Muslim women protest proposed Dutch burqa ban

2006-12-01

About two dozen Muslim women protested Thursday outside the Dutch parliament against a proposed ban on the burqa, the head-to-toe Islamic robe. Several protesters wore long robes and veils exposing only their eyes, known as a niqab. "We live in a free country and the government cannot tell us what to do with our religion," protest organizer Ayse Bayrak told The Associated Press. "We don't live in a dictatorship. We don't live under the Taliban, which oppresses women."

Hardline Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk is drawing up legislation banning the burqa and other clothes that cover the face in public places.
AoS note at 0940 CST: classic flag set to 'yes' for the comments. Thanks Zen and ex-JAG.

Link

Europe

Dutch Muslims hit out at proposed burqa ban

2006-11-18

Dutch Muslims have hit out at a proposed government ban of face veils, saying it was over the top, ill-conceived and infringed religious rights.

Whoa! Didn't see this one coming!... Oh. We did. Never mind.

On Friday the Dutch cabinet said it was proposing a bill banning clothing that covers the face in public, targeting in particular Muslim woman wearing the burqa or niqab.

Targeting also young Muslim men who're into dressing up as Muslim women, whether it's because they're transporting ammunition, on the run from the coppers, or they just like wearing women's underwear...

The burqa is an Islamic veil covering the entire face and body and a mesh screen to see through, while the niqab is a veil covering the face but leaving the eye area clear. The garments are worn by a few dozen women in the Netherlands.

"So, really, y'see, it's not a problem..."

Rita Verdonk, minister of immigration and integration, said the bill proposed a ban on the basis that covering the face constituted a risk to public order and safety. The ban would be imposed in public and "semi-public" places such as schools, courts, ministries and trains, her spokesman Martin Bruinsma told AFP. "In this country, we want to be able to see each other. The ban is a question of security," daily De Telegraaf quoted on Saturday the minister as saying.

If government has the power to ban running around nekkid at the beach, it should also have the power to ban its exact opposite at the bus station. That's logic.

But representatives of the country's Muslim population were unimpressed.

They've never been particularly impressed by logic, have they?

"They are going to have to find a better argument than security.

Why would they have to? It's gummint's responsibility to ensure citizens' security.

"It is an infringement on the freedom of religion," said Ahmed Markouch, a Moroccan mosques representative. He predicted that the bill would go down badly with the country's sizeable Muslim population, "because it comes from Verdonk, not because they are in favour of the burqa."

Meaning that if it came from somebody else they'd accept it without a grumble. I somehow doubt that. It it came from somebody else, they'd be "just as bad as Verdonk."

Green Party lawmaker Mustapha Laboui, who is of Moroccan origin, said that although he believed the wearing of the burqa in Dutch society was "not logical", he was sceptical as to the bill's legality. And Ayhan Tonca from the CMO, a group representing Muslims, said that such a law would be "useless". "The existing laws are sufficient for dealing with the problems. It's over the top, a law for a dozen people!," Tonca told AFP.

Link

Europe

Dutch seek ban on burkas in public

2006-11-17

The Dutch government, facing re-election next week, said Friday it plans to draw up legislation "as soon as possible" banning the head-to-toe garment known as burkas and other clothing that covers the entire face in public places. The announcement puts the Netherlands, once considered one of Europe's most welcoming nations for immigrants and asylum seekers, at the forefront of a general European hardening of attitudes toward Muslim minorities.

"The Cabinet finds it undesirable that face-covering clothing -- including the burka -- is worn in public places for reasons of public order, security and protection of citizens," Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk said in a statement.

"From a security standpoint, people should always be recognizable and from the standpoint of integration, we think people should be able to communicate with one another," Verdonk told national broadcaster NOS.

Link

Europe

Holland vows to implement burqa ban

2006-11-11

The Netherlands said on Friday that it was seeking to ban the public wearing of the burqa and other Muslim face veils, possibly making it the first European country to impose such a ruling. Last December Dutch lawmakers voted in favour of outlawing face-coverings, and asked Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk to examine the feasibility of such a ban. Verdonk warned that since face veils were worn for religious reasons, a ban could directly conflict with Dutch religious freedom laws.

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Europe

Verdonk backs burka ban to help Muslim integration

2006-10-22

Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk is in favour of imposing a ban on the wearing of a burka in public spaces. The Liberal VVD told MPs on Thursday night the face-covering clothing is a symbol of division (between the West and Islam) and was not in harmony with the integration of Muslims and the emancipation of women.

But Christian Democrat CDA Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin refused to confirm after the parliamentary debate whether he supported Verdonk's proposal, stressing that now was not the time for differences in opinions between ministers. However, Hirsch Ballin also said Verdonk was speaking from an integration perspective, while the commission of seven experts that was advising the Cabinet about a possible burka ban had a broader focus.

The commission will need to balance the constitutional rights of citizens against the public opposition against the burka. How the Islamic community views the burka will also need to be assessed. The commission which includes lawyers, an Arabist and an imam must issue recommendations to government ministers at the start of November. The Cabinet will then make a decision, Verdonk said.

 Government ministers had been called back to the Parliament to explain why they had not yet imposed a ban on the burka, as demanded by MPs in December 

One of the options being studied is whether a general ban on the burka is possible under current regulations. It will then also be assessed whether a ban wearing a burka can be justified based on issues of safety and public order. The final option is whether a ban can be imposed via existing regulations such as a general local ordinance or compulsory identification laws. Government ministers had been called back to the Parliament to explain why they had not yet imposed a ban on the burka, as demanded by MPs in December at the initiative of Geert Wilders. It had previously been revealed that the cabinet was divided over the issue.

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Europe

Draft of Schiphol fire report is 'explosive'

2006-07-13

Hague insiders have speculated that Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner and Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk will face political problems when the report into the fatal fire at the Schiphol detention centre is published.

Citing sources in The Hague, newspaper 'De Telegraaf' reported on Thursday that the long awaited report, due out in September, is "explosive".

The report by the Dutch Safety Board deals with the fire that killed 11 people at the Schiphol detention centre on 26 October 2005. They were illegal immigrants being held pending deportation.

A draft of the report was circulated within several government departments last week and top Justice Ministry
officials have been shocked by its findings, the newspaper said.

The safety board's reconstruction of events surrounding the fire suggests the Justice Ministry was seriously negligent in several areas. The State construction service (Rijksgebouwendienst) the police and the Fire Brigade also come in for criticism.
More at link

Link

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