DutchNews Podcast

Exactly 350 years after the disaster year of 1672, the government faces an energy crisis, a refugee accommodation crisis and a nitrogen pollution crisis all at once. Wopke Hoekstra experiences an identity crisis as he oscillates between supporting the government's nitrogen policy as a cabinet minister and attacking it as leader of the Christian Democrat party. The earthquake crisis in Groningen triggers seismic levels of blame-shifting at the parliamentary inquiry. And we look back at a sporting summer in which Sarina Wiegman became the most powerful Dutch person in England since William III and Spain ruled the southern provinces again as the Vuelta a España rolled through Brabant. - NRC Vandaag podcast episode on Ter Apel (in Dutch): https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2022/08/31/waarom-de-langverwachte-opvangcrisis-in-ter-apel-niet-voorkomen-werd-a4140324

Farmers this week stepped up their protests against the government's nitrogen policy by blocking deliveries of food to supermarkets. That was especially bad news for the government's new team of tax inspectors who have the Herculean task of classifying fruit and vegetables. While the farmers came under fire for ploughing up a nature reserve, police are facing questions after shooting at a tractor driven by a 16-year-old boy. Photos are released of the jewel thieves in cloth caps who raided an art fair in Maastricht before fleeing on electric scooters, in a straight-to-TikTok remake of Peaky Blinders. And the orange season is over at Wimbledon as both Dutch players lose in the men's fourth round. Amsterdam arrest: https://twitter.com/AmericanFietser/status/1544458680917180422

Farmers stepped up their protests this week, bringing two cows to The Hague to illustrate the effect of the government's nitrogen reduction plans. One cow would go to the slaughterhouse today, the other would go back to the farm to be slaughtered later. Police described the hardliners' approach as a threat to democracy as CDA MP Derk Boswijk was forced to stay home after his family was visited by a fleet of tractors. Hard-hitting tactics were also favoured by jewel thieves who raided the Tefaf art fair in Maastricht using a sledgehammer. It's not just farmers who have an axe to grind: family doctors held a demonstration on the Malieveld to protest against long hours and bureaucracy. Mark Rutte breaks his silence on the farmers but says it's the wrong time to… TEFAF robbery video: https://twitter.com/HWHofs/status/1541730594211725312

After a two-year ceasefire during the pandemic, farmers warn their tractors are not for turning as a new wave of protests begins against the government's plans to cut nitrogen emissions. Coronavirus infections are rising but health minister Ernst Kuipers sees no cause for alarm, as long as everyone follows his lead and washes their hands. Mark Rutte makes a U-turn on Ukraine, Rob Jetten does an about-face on coal-fired power stations and beleaguered Lelystad Airport is given another stay of execution. And archaeologists in Gelderland make a unique discovery: a building project that wasn't cancelled for want of an environmental permit.

It was the week the Dutch government discovered the truth of what a famous Scotsman once said about the best laid plans of mice and men. Schiphol airport announced thousands of flights will be cancelled this summer because it can't recruit enough staff. Agriculture minister Christianne van der Wal was doorstepped by angry farmers and censured by her party after admitting the current plans to curb nitrogen pollution weren't adequate. And health minister Ernst Kuipers came under fire for not doing enough to prepare for the next wave of coronavirus infections. The AIVD unmasked a Russian spy who used a fake Brazilian identity to infiltrate the ICC, while an unsung Dutch tennis player dispatched another Russian in Rosmalen to earn a ticket to Wimbledon.

The Netherlands needs to ramp up its efforts to cut nitrogen pollution, including measures to reduce the agriculture sector, nature minister Christianne van der Wal warned this week. Also in line for a shake-up is the police force, where racist officers will face stronger sanctions and senior officers take on the macho culture. Rotterdam city council expands the boundaries of 'big tent' politics as polar opposites Leefbaar and Denk go into coalition together. And as a New Year fireworks ban fizzles out in the Tweede Kamer, Feyenoord fans are hit with another fine and a stadium ban for mixing football and firecrackers. Nitrogen explainer: https://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2022/06/whats-all-the-fuss-about-nitrogen-in-the-netherlands/

In a week dominated by queues and logjams, Schiphol airport struck a deal with ground staff to try to avoid a summer of misery for air passengers. Dutch motorists began queueing for petrol in Germany as Russia put the squeeze on fuel prices. A housing bottleneck left people sleeping on chairs at Ter Apel refugee centre, while Westland's greenhouse industry wastes no time in exploiting Ukrainian workers. The waiting list for compensation for earthquake damage in Groningen could grow longer too if the government bows to pressure to raise production again. And economists warn the labour shortage is a long-term problem with no easy fix, even if the Dutch agree to work longer than 32 hours a week.

It turns out Mark Rutte doesn't have the most unreliable memory in the Netherlands: that accolade goes to his trusty old Nokia 301. We digest the fall-out from Nokiagate and ask what happened to Rutte's promises of a more open style of government. Collective paralysis also seems to have afflicted the coronavirus response, with health experts warning of an autumn lockdown as minister Ernst Kuipers tells businesses to make their own pandemic control plans. The CBS warns of economic stagnation as the war in Ukraine and a chronic shortage of staff take their toll. And a homing pigeon proves that not all memories are prone to real-time archiving as it completes a 15-year round trip.

The shiny new administrative culture was put back in its box this week as Mark Rutte and Sigrid Kaag roamed the parliamentary corridors drumming up support for their spring budget package. In the debating chamber, parents who were targeted in the childcare benefits scandal walked out as a coalition MP refused to take questions during his maiden speech. Eleven gangsters were jailed in a gruesome case in which a sea container was fitted out as a makeshift torture chamber. Erik ten Hag rounded off his Ajax career in triumphant style, while singer S10 successfully sneaked a Dutch-language song into the Eurovision final.

The women take over this week as we remember the dead of World War II and celebrate freedom, while three peregrine falcon chicks escape their eggs on a ledge high above the Rijksmuseum. We ask can Hugo de Jonge solve the housing crisis, as he did coronavirus, or would he perhaps be better off trying to sort out the mess at Schiphol airport? The Netherlands has tumbled in the annual press freedom index but is there a link to the way government press officers avoid answering questions? And as cafe life gets back to normal in the Netherlands, we wonder why everyone seems to be drinking more beer at home. - Brenda from Bristol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6-IQAdFU3w - Rijksmuseum Peregrine Falcon: https://www.vogelbescherming.nl/beleefdelente/slechtvalk