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The prospect of Ronald Plasterk leading the Dutch Cabinet as the next prime minister was becoming less and less likely amid increasing pressure related to a scandal involving the former interior minister. Plasterk's candidacy to become prime minister is "no longer tenable," sources close to the new PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB political coalition told broadcaster NOS. At best, the scandal casts a dark shadow on Plasterk's management of the patent process involving a new cancer treatment. At worst, Plasterk could potentially face claims of scientific fraud that led to him enriching himself.

Aside from more recent reporting about the row between Plasterk and NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt, the science research scandal already surfaced weeks ago in an article written by NRC. Since then, the newspaper has written several follow-up pieces that call into question Plasterk's decisions regarding the patent. The current phase is "the highest alarm level," sources told NOS.

Plasterk, a microbiologist and politician, reportedly earned millions of euros on a patent for which he claimed sole credit. The patient application filed in the Untied States could soon be granted, but it could highlight mistakes made during the procedure. This could refer the patent worthless, which could then trigger lawsuits filed against Plasterk by various stakeholders, patent expert Koos Rasser told NRC.

The research is connected to Plasterk's time leading the Amsterdam Medical Center (AMC), the teaching hospital of the University of Amsterdam. This was before the hospital was rebranded as the Amsterdam University Medical Center in a partnership with the Vrije Universiteit. Plasterk grew wealthier from the patents associated with the therapy, but neither the hospital nor the researcher involved, oncology professor Kees Punt, benefitted from the arrangement.

After Plasterk printed a brief, one-paragraph public apology to Pieter Omtzigt in the Telegraaf on Friday for maligning the NSC leader in Parliament, Punt sent a direct message to Plasterk over their argument about the patent. Sources told NOS suggested Punt write a new letter of apology, along the lines of, "Sorry for my lack of integrity, I should not have used data from fellow scientists without involving them."

Plasterk told NRC that his former colleague's allegations were without merit. Punt was the head of oncology at Amsterdam University Medical Center and the AMC when Plasterk was working there.

The problems for Plasterk do not end there, as attorney Henri Sarolea told NRC that there were inaccurate accounting details for Plasterk's company involved in the patient application. Sarolea has decided to try to press charges against Plasterk for forgery. Again, Plasterk denied the allegation of any intentional wrongdoing.

The Amsterdam University Medical Center said last week it was investigating the matter, though it was not clear if this was going to be carried out independently of both parties. "But when more is known, we will report it," the hospital told NOS.

Plasterk's scientific ethics issue surfaced in April, two months after he said Omtzigt acted inappropriately by walking out of Cabinet formation negotiations in February. Plasterk then complained that Omtzigt used Plasterk's car and driver to drive to a group of journalists to explain why.

Despite both issues, PVV leader Geert Wilders was rumored to favour Plasterk as a prime minister candidate. Plasterk has been a member of the PvdA, the Dutch Labour party, for more than 45 years. He also served as a Cabinet member under Jan Peter Balkenende.

Under the circumstances, Plasterk would be wise to fall on his sword and say he is not interested in the prime minister job, sources told NOS. Neither Wilders nor the PVV commented on the record about the matter. As the leader of the largest party in the coalition, Wilders has first crack at naming a future prime minister. Without unanimous agreement on Plasterk, the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB coalition has already started on shaky ground.

Normally, the future prime minister would first be nominated as a formateur to research and vet potential Cabinet ministers and state secretaries. This individual would then create a shortlist. Without a prime minister candidate, the formateur will be Richard van Zwol, who helped lead the last round of Cabinet negotiations. However, he has made it clear he does not want to take Mark Rutte's job.

Without knowing who will lead the Cabinet, it seems questionable that Van Zwol would be able to have serious conversations with potential Cabinet members, since the most viable candidates would want to first know the name of the prime minister, said NOS.

FC Twente kept their cool on the last day of the Eredivisie season, beating a game PEC Zwolle 2-1 to secure third place in the league table, which gives them a chance to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season. Their rivals for the third spot, AZ Alkmaar, drew 3-3 with FC Utrecht despite leading 3-0 at halftime.

Before the match, Twente was two points ahead of AZ, with one goal the difference in goal difference. It was a dramatic day in the race for the third spot, with plenty of twists and turns.

Both sides faced teams with their own motivations faced teams with their own motivations for winning. FC Utrecht wanted to finish as high as possible to ensure their playoff match for European football was at home. PEC Zwolle wanted to give club legend Bram van Polen the best possible send-off, who was playing his last game for the club he had played for 17 years.

AZ struck first in the battle for third place, breaking the deadlock after 15 minutes. Vangelis Pavlidis worked very hard to block the clearance from the Utrecht defender, ensuring that it bounced straight to Mees de Wit, who calmly stroked it into the far corner.

Twente’s hopes of Utrecht doing them a favor were damaged even more when the Alkmaarders made it 2-0 from the kickoff after the first goal. Utrecht lost the ball, which then came to Pavlidis, who played a perfect pass over the Utrecht defence to Ruben van Bommel. The youngster stayed calm in front of the goal, lobbing it perfectly over Vasilias Barkas.

Twente continued to push for the goal that they now desperately needed and should have gotten it after 25 minutes. Gijs Smal came forward from full-back and pulled the ball back to Sem Steijn in the box, but the midfielder hit the post with his attempt.

The Pavlidis show continued in Alkmaar as AZ made it 3-0. This time, Pavlidis scored the goal after playing a pass to Yukinari Sugawara and then continuing his run to flying head the ball into the far corner. It put the Greek on top of the top scorer list in the Eredivisie this season.

Maarten Martens side giften Utrecht a goal in the second half. Centre-back Riechedly Bazoer did not look before attempting to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Maty Ryan and, therefore, did not see Utrecht midfielder Jens Toornstra standing there. Toornstra played the ball to Othman Boussaid, who scored.

Twente’s opponents were not making it easy for the Tukkers either, and they were inches away from taking the lead. Odysseus Velanas played the ball across the goal after a counterattack, which just about evaded striker Lennart Thy.

Joseph Oosting’s side scored a huge goal in the 59th minute. Substitute Naci Unuvar showed great determination to keep possession of the ball before playing it into the path of Daan Rots, who rolled it into the far corner.

The second half did not go according to plan for the Alkmaarders, as they were handed another blow. Midfielder Dani de Wit received a straight red card for a dangerous tackle in his last match for the club.

However, PEC did not let their heads drop after conceding and equalized shortly after. A free kick was headed to the far post, where Anselmo Garcia MacNulty was unmarked and knocked it home from close range.

The goals kept coming, as FC Utrecht got another goal back to reduce the deficit to one goal. Sam Lammers headed in Souffian El Karouani’s cross.

In the end, a fantastic minute for Twente secured the final league positions. First, FC Utrecht scored again to complete the comeback. A counterattack was finished off by Victor Jensen after being played through by Jeppe Okkels. And then, while the Tukkers fans celebrated the news of Utrecht’s equalizer, their team gave them more reason to celebrate by taking the lead.

Rots played the ball deep to full-back Youri Regeer, who was taken down by Davy van den Berg for a penalty. Experienced striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel took the pen and scored, sending the Twente fans to wild celebrations.

It is the first time that Twente has finished in a Champions League spot in over ten years. AZ Alkmaar will play in the Europa League group stage.

People in the Netherlands have paid more to send mail in the last few years, but the delivery quality has worsened, said the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in its yearly Post and Packages Monitor. The regulator said they received many complaints about post and packages being delivered too late or carelessly. At the same time, the Cabinet said on Friday that mail may no longer have to be delivered most of the time within 24 hours starting next year.

The law states that 95 percent of letterbox post must be delivered within 24 hours. The ACM added that delivery companies only reached this target 89 percent of the time last year. “This is at odds with the price increases,” said ACM chair Manon Leijten. This has decreased significantly since 2019, when 94 percent of the letterbox posts were delivered on time.

At the same time, postage stamp prices increased to 1.01 euros in 2023 from 87 cents in 2019. The regulator said the increase was higher than inflation. PostNL raised the price to 1.09 euros at the start of this year, and it will rise again to 1.14 euros from July 1.

It has also become more expensive to send packages. The ACM claimed that consumers and small companies lose the most money. They pay 5.49 euros per package. The ACM reported that private individuals and business owners sent almost two percent more packages than in 2022. The number of postal items dropped by 8 percent, and most were sent by business shippers.

The revenue generated from post and package deliveries rose slightly to 3.3 billion euros.

From next year, mail may no longer have to be delivered within 24 hours, but within 48 hours, said Economic Affairs Minister Micky Adriaansens in a letter to Parliament on Friday. Delivery will continue five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday.

"The fact that the price is going up, but the mail is not delivered on time, is not good," Adriaansens said after the regular weekly Cabinet meeting. More time for mail delivery is one of the possible measures that the minister is now considering. "It is so worrying that I think my successor should get to work on it quickly."

She also said she thinks it is important to look at the future of the postal market. The ministry will investigate this. "There will always be a certain amount of letter mail." Although the size is decreasing, funeral mail, medical mail and letters from the Tax Authorities will always remain there, Adriaansens expects.

She noted that previous research shows that consumers and companies prefer delivery certainty over next-day delivery. That is why a longer delivery period is one of the options being looked at. Funeral cards and medical mail must still be delivered within 24 hours, six days a week, from Monday to Saturday.

A PostNL spokesperson reiterated the wish to be allowed to take two days to deliver mail, and eventually three days. This will not change until next year at the earliest, "if politicians support us in this." The delivery company pointed to a tight labor market and that a few months ago there were a thousand vacancies open. "But fortunately we see that this number is shrinking quickly," sje saod

PostNL also said that medical, business and funeral mail and packages are often delivered on time. DHL, who started delivering mail in the Netherlands last year, had not responded to the ACM report.

Two campsites in the Limburg village of Etenaken were in the process of being evacuated Saturday morning due to a threat of flooding, the southern Limburg regional emergency services office said. At the campsite De Gele Anemoon, 58 guests must leave their camping spots, and 128 more must leave De Gronselenput campsite 128. The campers will be taken by buses to a nearby hotel, the safety office said.

Both campsites, which are located on the banks of the Geul River, were well occupied for the Pentecost holiday weekend. An employee of De Gele Anemoon said that the guests have now left, leaving behind their tents, campers and caravans.

The campsite is trying to get in touch with guests who were supposed to arrive on Saturday to tell them that they cannot come. According to the employee, the access road to the campsite is under water.

At De Gronselenput campsite, river water entered the grounds in a few places, said an employee. The water was not yet threatening to reach the abandoned caravans, campers and tents there.

A few people stayed behind at the campsite to monitor the situation. "We now have to wait to see what the water will do."

Belgium

A great deal of rain fell in a short time in the Belgian Voer region on Friday. The Berwijn River, in the Maas basin, has overflowed its banks. In the municipality of Voeren, several streets were covered in water, and houses were flooded. Residents were also evacuated from their homes.

Emergency services workers said that the situation in the Voer region could also have consequences for the water levels in southern Limburg. Several meadows and floodplains have been flooded, but there are no problems yet in the built-up areas.

Due to the flooding, no trains were running between Maastricht Randwyck and the Belgian border town of Visé, the NS said. The Dutch national railway predicted that train traffic would not be resumed until Sunday morning.

The new coalition of PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB have many plans for the Netherlands. Here are the bits from the coalition agreement that will impact your wallet.

Ways in which households will receive or save more money

• More support for middle-income earners through a third income tax bracket. That will cost 2 billion euros
• The parties froze plans to phase out double tax credits - so people receiving benefits won’t be limited in the tax credits their households can claim for now
• 500 million euros per year will go into a fund to help households in need. This plan still needs to be elaborated
• The child budget will increase
• The rent allowance will increase
• The healthcare deductible will be frozen for the next two years and then halved in 2027. That will cost 5 billion euros per year
• The coalition wants to make childcare almost free for working parents. But in the meantime, the childcare allowance will not increase with inflation as planned.
• The increase in tax on income from (a share in) a company will be reversed. So this box 2 rate will decrease from 33 to 31 percent
• The box 3 tax on savings and investments will be reduced. By how much is not yet clear, but the parties planned to miss out on 100 million euros per year for this.
• The reduction in excise duties on motor fuels will remain in effect next year, costing over 1.5 billion euros
• The energy tax on gas will be reduced for small consumers, by 2.82 cents per cubic meter. That will cost the treasury 357 million euros

Government policies that will cost Dutch households more money

• The cultural sector will no longer fall under the low VAT rate of 9 percent but will have to charge the high VAT rate of 21 percent. That will mean higher prices for theater and museum tickets. Cinemas and amusement parks are excluded and can still charge the low VAT rate.
• All types of holiday accommodations except for campsites must also charge the high VAT rate of 21 percent, so hotel stays will become more expensive.
• The VAT on books, magazines, and newspapers will also increase to 21 percent
• The netting scheme, in which solar panel owners can deduct the energy they add to the grid from the energy they use, will disappear in 2027.
• From 2027, there will be a levy on circular plastic. The levy will generate over 500 million euros in income per year for the treasury, and likely result in many products becoming more expensive.
• Flight tax will become distance-dependent from 2027. According to the coalition parties, longer flights will be taxed more because they emit more greenhouse gasses. So long-haul flights will become more expensive. Until now, climate policy has generally focused on discouraging short flights because they can be easily replaced with more environmentally friendly forms of travel, like the train. The coalition expects this measure will generate 248 million euros per year.

Policies specifically affecting students and their fees

• International students will face higher tuition fees and more restrictions on basic study grants
• The public transport reimbursement for Dutch students abroad will be abolished
• Students who take too long to graduate will face higher tuition - every year of delay will cost these students an extra 3,000 euros

A full summary of the budget behind the coalition agreement can be found here.

A recent survey by Ipsos I&O Research suggests the Dutch public is largely critical of the ongoing university campus protests against Israel's actions in Gaza. The survey, conducted between May 9 and 13, found only a fifth (21%) of respondents support the protests, while two-thirds (65%) agree or strongly agree with the statement, "It is good that the police intervened in the student protests against the war in Gaza."

The demonstrations, which expanded last week in several university cities, were not restricted to just gatherings outside. In many cases, they led to students, staff, and others occupying buildings and demanding their institutions disclose and sever ties with Israel. Multiple University of Amsterdam buildings were occupied on different occasions, leading to hundreds of thousands of euros in damages, and subsequent police intervention to remove the demonstrators.

The survey reveals a clear generational divide on the issue. Young people aged 18-24 are more likely to support the protests, with 40% expressing approval compared to 27% who oppose them. However, even among this younger demographic, there is significant support (40%) for police intervention. Across all other age groups, disapproval of the protests is higher than support for them.

Roughly 35 percent of the 2,102 adults surveyed said that they fully supported police intervention in the protests, while 30 percent found it acceptable, and 16 percent were more ambivalent. Only 5 percent were fully opposed, and 8 percent were somewhat opposed to police stepping in. The remaining 7 percent were unsure either way.

Meanwhile, 8 percent fully support the student protests in some form, and 13 percent support them somewhat, while 18 percent are opposed and 35 percent are really against those demonstrations. Another 19 percent were ambivalent, and 8 percent said they did not know how they felt.

The political spectrum also plays a role in attitudes towards the protests, although none of the political parties have a majority of support for the student protests. Voters on the right and center-right overwhelmingly condemn the protests and support police intervention. Conversely, voters on the left are more divided.

Supporters of the animal rights party PvdD are most likely to back the protests (47% in favor, 20% against), followed by GroenLinks-PvdA voters (42% for, 29% against). D66 and SP voters lean more towards disapproval (32% and 26% in favor, respectively, with 44% and 34% against). Notably, the data suggests potential strong support among DENK voters, but the sample size for this group is too small to draw definitive conclusions.

The survey also highlights a potential lack of nuance among the Dutch public regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. Half of respondents were identified as lacking nuance in the debate, and within this group, support for the protests sits at 26%, while half are opposed. The research, which included 2,102 Dutch residents aged 18 or older, was weighted to ensure a representative sample across demographics like gender, age, region, education level, and voting behavior. The researchers disclosed that about 5 percent of respondents have an ethnic background that is not considered Western.

Dutch national railway NS and infrastructure firm ProRail will receive a combined total of 3.25 million euros in fines for poor performance and delays on the high-speed route between Amsterdam and Breda. At least 82.1 percent of passengers should have arrived with a maximum delay of five minutes on that route, but the “passenger punctuality” rate was 73.6 percent last year, said caretaker Infrastructure State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen in a letter to Parliament on Friday.

The fine for the NS is 500,000 euros, and for ProRail it is 2.75 million euros. A small portion of the fine to the railroad infrastructure company, 125,000 euros, was because freight transporters gave the line a poor rating.

The delays are not entirely the fault of the NS and ProRail, Heijnen acknowledged. Errors during the construction of the high-speed line also played a role. Nevertheless, she chose to impose the fines. “I expect ProRail and NS to provide better service on the points over which they have influence.”

“Not nice, of course,” an NS spokesperson responded. “Dozens of people are working hard to serve passengers on the high-speed line as best as possible. Passengers can expect more than we delivered.”

In addition to the construction errors, the spokesperson also blamed the delays on the equipment. New trains were delivered later than expected, which means that the failure of other trains had a greater impact. “The implementation of the new trains also had teething problems.” The spokesperson was hopeful that performance will be better this year, but could not provide guarantees.

This is certainly not the first fine for the NS. Last year, the national rail carrier had to pay 1.5 million euros because fewer trains operated in 2022 than promised, despite financial support from the Cabinet.

The fine collected from the two companies will be “used for passengers on the main rail network,” Heijnen wrote, but she could not elaborate on specifics. Last year, following a competition, the money went to a “dating app” that allows travelers to get in touch with each other. Right-wing parties were angered about the manner in which the money was spent.

A competition to determine how the money is put into use will not happen this time, said the NS spokesperson. “We will pay the fine to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.”

Joost Klein has to appear in court in Malmö, Sweden, for the incident that occurred during the Eurovision Song Festival last week, his lawyer told Swedish broadcaster SVT. The local prosecution service and the court would not confirm the news, but Klein's attorney said a provisional trial date has been set for early June.

Police have alleged Klein made criminally punishable threats, but Klein’s lawyer, Jan-Åke Fält, denied the accusations against the singer. “I believe the chances of an acquittal are good,” Fält said.

A Eurovision Song Contest employee pressed charges last week following an incident backstage after Klein’s semi-final performance. Dutch Eurovision broadcaster AvroTros claimed that Klein made “a threatening movement” towards the woman because she filmed him despite prior agreements with the organizers.

Fält said Klein pushed the photographer’s camera away, but denied the allegation that he made a threat in any way. "As I understand it, there was an agreement between him and the management. It was a sensitive occasion when he left the stage where he was not allowed to be photographed. He was to be met by his team, but there was a photographer. He asked the person to stop filming," the attorney stated. The camera was pushed aside at that moment.

The woman’s claims were reportedly different from the Dutch broadcaster’s version of events. The contest organizer, European Broadcasting Union, sided with their worker, and first suspended Klein before disqualifying him ahead of the competition’s final.

Fält told Swedish media companies that the police are still working on the investigation. The attorney plans to ask a number of Dutch witnesses to testify.

Klein has not yet commented publicly on the incident. He was questioned by police in Malmö, but was never taken into custody. He was also allowed to leave Sweden and return to the Netherlands without objection.

Religious faith is declining in the Netherlands. Last year, 42 percent of Netherlands residents aged 15 or older indicated that they belonged to a religious community, down from 53 percent a decade earlier. Roman Catholic is still the biggest faith community in the country, but also the most rapidly declining, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported.

Last year, 17 percent of Dutch people considered themselves Roman Catholic, followed by Protestant (13 percent) and Muslim (6 percent). Another 6 percent had a different faith. Compared to 2013, the share of Roman Catholics dropped the most, at -9 percent. There were also 3 percent fewer Protestants, while Muslims increased by 1 percent.

Religious faith is much more common among senior citizens than among younger generations. 63 percent of people over 75 said they belong to a religious community, over twice as many as the youngest age group—around 30 percent of people aged 15 to 35 consider themselves religious. Women (44 percent) are more likely to be religious than men (39 percent).

Of the three largest religious communities in the Netherlands, Roman Catholics are the oldest, with an average age of 59. The average age of Protestants is 54. “A large proportion of these religious groups consist of people over 65. Only a small proportion are younger than 25.”

People who belong to the Islamic community, on the other hand, are relatively young. The average age of Muslims in the Netherlands is 36 years. “Just over a quarter of them are younger than 25 years old. In addition, only 4 percent are 65 or older.”

Of the religious people in the Netherlands, 18 percent attended a religious service at least weekly in 2023. “That percentage has been stable for years,” CBS said. Protestants were the most avid church goers, with 33 percent attending at least weekly. 27 percent of Muslims visited the mosque at least once a week, and only 6 percent of Catholics went to church on a weekly basis.

Tens of thousands of teenage girls and young women were stalked in the Netherlands last year. Victims faced physical and online harassment like constant spying and unwanted messages for an extended period, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. The perpetrator is relatively often an ex, the statistics office said.

Last year, 225,000 Netherlands residents were victims of stalkers, 137,000 women and 90,000 men. That is about 2 percent of the population. Teenage girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 25 were most often the victims of stalking at 3 percent of this age group.

Women are more likely to know their stalker, 66 percent versus 48 percent of men. For women, the perpetrators were almost always men. Men often do not know the gender of their stalker. Women are more likely to be stalked by an ex, 22 percent compared to 11 percent of male victims.

Last year, 74 percent of victims said that the stalking had at least some emotional or psychological impact on them. Women were impacted the most, with 55 percent reporting feeling less safe, 28 percent having trouble sleeping, and 29 percent feeling anxious. Among men, those percentages were 38, 20, and 14, in order.

Only 22 percent of stalking victims filed a police report. That percentage is about the same among women and men. The reasons why they didn’t file a report were also largely the same. 33 percent thought it wouldn’t help. 23 percent thought it wasn’t a serious enough crime to report. Women more often didn’t report their stalker because they were worried about unpleasant reactions or revenge (17 vs 9 percent).