Rob Jetten

Biography

"Opportunities for all"

On the night that Theo van Gogh was murdered, a Turkish primary school was set on fire in my home town of Uden. The culprits ended up being teammates from my football team, who had been up to a bit of mischief, but the rest of the world cast my village as a hotbed for far-right youths. I teamed up with a few peers to prove everyone wrong, organising various campaigns and speaking before the municipal council. I had always been interested in politics, but this was the first time I realised that you have to act if you disagree with something.

Decisiveness

When I went to study in Nijmegen a year later, I joined the Jonge Democraten, the youth branch of D66. Later, I became group chairman of D66 in Nijmegen. I feel at home in this party. D66 has shown its decisive spirit and its ability to take decisions in difficult times.

Leading the way

In the coming years, we need to step up our investments in education and the rapid integration of refugees. We can stimulate green economic growth by providing better support to innovative entrepreneurs. And we should have the courage to lead the way in smart mobility solutions for big cities and shrinking regions, so that opportunities are literally and figuratively accessible to all.