Debate about terrorist attacks in Paris
On Wednesday 14 January 2015 the House of Representatives had a debate with the Cabinet about the Paris terrorist attacks and the consequences thereof for the Netherlands.
Debate of leaders of political groups
During the arrangement of business on Tuesday the House of Representatives scheduled this debate, to be held by the leaders of the political groups in the House. Moreover, the House asked the Cabinet to set out in a letter its vision of these terrorist acts and their implications for the Netherlands. The House recieved this letter before the start of the debate.
The House of Representatives summoned four ministers for this debate: prime minister Mark Rutte, Mr Ivo Opstelten, minister of Security and Justice, Mr Roel Plasterk, minister of the Interior, and Mr Lodewijk Asscher, minister of Social Affairs and Employment.
Condolences
At the opening of the sitting of the House on Tuesday the Speaker of the House, Ms Anouchka van Miltenburg, reflected on the events in Paris. She said: "the attack on the weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday 7 January has hit our western democracy in the heart. The free word is a major foundation of an open and free society. We cannot afford this foundation to be swept away. Our thoughts are with the victims of the attacks and their surviving relatives as well as with the French society as a whole. We wish the French parliament the strength and the wisdom necessary to adequately deal with the attacks and everything they involve. The President of the Senate and myself have sent similar messages to the French Senate and the French Assemblée Nationale."