Maastricht is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse, at the point where the Jeker joins it. Mount Saint Peter (Sint-Pietersberg) is largely situated within the city's municipal borders. Maastricht is adjacent to the border with Belgium and is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, an international metropolis with a population of about 3.9 million, which includes the nearby German and Belgian cities of Aachen, Liège, and Hasselt.
While recreational use, possession and trade of non-medicinal drugs described by the Opium Law are all technically illegal under Dutch law, official policy since the late 20th century has been to openly tolerate all recreational use while tolerating possession and trade under certain circumstances. This pragmatic approach was motivated by the idea that a drug-free Dutch society is unrealistic and unattainable, and efforts would be better spent trying to minimize harm caused by recreational drug use. As a result of this gedoogbeleid, the Netherlands is typically seen as much more tolerant of drugs than most other countries.
The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) after the election of 2003. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm, a former Minister of Finance, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance, while former Progressive-Liberal Leader Thom de Graaf served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for the Interior.
Marius Job Cohen is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012.
Jan Pieter Hendrik "Piet Hein" Donner is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2018.
Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and nonprofit director.
The Third Lubbers cabinet, also called the Lubbers–Kok cabinet, was the executive branch of the Dutch government from 7 November 1989 to 22 August 1994. The cabinet was formed the christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 1989. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Christian-Democratic Leader Ruud Lubbers serving as Prime Minister. Labour Leader Wim Kok served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
The third Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 7 July 2006 until 22 February 2007. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the fall of the second Balkenende cabinet. The caretaker rump cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a minority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Former Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm continued as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
Fredrik "Fred" Teeven is a Dutch jurist, bus driver and former politician and prosecutor. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Security and Justice from 2010 until his resignation in 2015 alongside that of Minister Ivo Opstelten.
Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a retired Dutch politician and historian. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2012 under Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
In the Netherlands, coffeeshops are a type of cannabis retail outlet, establishments where the sale of cannabis for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local authorities.
Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started, involving negotiations about which coalition partners to form a common programme of policy and to divide the posts in cabinet. On February 22, 2007 it resulted in the formation of the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.
Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus Maria "Frans" Timmermans is a Dutch politician who served as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal and European Commissioner for Climate Action in the von der Leyen Commission from 2019 until his resignation in 2023. He is a member of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA).
Cornelis Gerrit "Kees" van der Staaij is a Dutch politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2023 and Leader of the Reformed Political Party between 2010 and 2023. As a parliamentarian, he focused on matters of judiciary, home affairs, Kingdom relations, foreign policy, the European Union, development aid, the defense, public health, welfare, sports, immigration and political asylum. Van der Staaij had been the longest running member of the House of Representatives from 2017 until 2023.
The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) after the election of 2010. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a minority in the House of Representatives but had confidence and supply from the Party for Freedom (PVV) for a slim majority with Liberal Leader Mark Rutte serving as Prime Minister. Christian Democratic Leader Maxime Verhagen served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
Klaas Henricus Dominicus Maria Dijkhoff is a Dutch legal scholar and politician who led the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. He previously was Minister of Defence (2017) and State Secretary for Security and Justice (2015–2017).
Raymond Willem Knops is a Dutch politician and retired RNLAF officer who served as State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations under the Third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 2019 and again from 2020 until 2022. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he was Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations from 2019 to 2020 in an acting capacity. Knops has held a seat in the House of Representatives between 2005 and 2023 with three interruptions due to cabinet formation processes and service in government.
Gideon "Gidi" Markuszower is an Israeli–Dutch politician of the Party for Freedom (PVV). He became a member of the Netherlands Senate on 9 June 2015. In the 2017 Dutch general election he was elected to the House of Representatives, and gave up his Senate seat. He was fourth on the Party for Freedom list in the 2023 Dutch general election, and therefore continued his term as a member of the House of Representatives.
Pim Johannes Thomas van Strien is a Dutch politician of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who has served as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. He previously worked as a press officer for the VVD and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
Vivianne L.W.A. Heijnen is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party. She served as Minister for the Environment as part of the fourth Rutte cabinet starting in January 2022 until the start of her maternity leave in May 2024. She did not return afterwards, as the Schoof cabinet was formed in July 2024. Heijnen was previously head of the Brussels campus of her alma mater Maastricht University, and she was active in local politics in Maastricht as municipal councilor (2010–18) and alderwoman (2018–22).
