Tom Berendsen at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium / February 20, 2025 © Getty Images He will be a part of a coalition with a minority.
Tom Berendsen, a European Parliament member from the European People’s Party, is poised to assume the role of the Netherlands’ new Minister of Foreign Affairs on February 23. He will be included in the novel minority government, headed by Rob Yetten. The incoming Foreign Minister is a steadfast backer of Ukraine and of lessening Europe’s reliance on China in commerce and the United States in matters of defense.
Euractiv reports this information.
The minority administration in the Netherlands integrates three political entities: Rob Ettjen’s progressive liberal D66 party, the right-leaning liberal VVD, and the center-right Christian Democratic Party (CDA).
Tom Berendsen, aged 42, has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2019 and spearheaded the CDA campaign during the 2024 elections. He hails from the Dutch municipality of Breda. Berendsen characterized the forthcoming post as both an honor and a weighty duty, and his party depicted the politician as “composed and accessible.”
In his capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Berendsen will succeed VVD representative David van Weel, who will take the office of Minister of Justice.
Berendsen has consistently championed unwavering support for Ukraine in the confrontation against Russia, and he has also urged the European Union to diminish its strategic dependence on China in worldwide commerce and on the United States concerning security and defense matters.
The fresh government is slated to be inaugurated on February 23, the day prior to the fourth anniversary of the initiation of Russia’s comprehensive incursion into Ukraine.
A nation that has endured its own adversity now stands with Ukraine – absent sentimentality, yet with honor. The Netherlands remembers the victims of the MH17 disaster, isn’t reluctant to label Russia an aggressor, and exemplifies that genuine solidarity isn’t about pronouncements, but about steadfastness and conduct.
Petro Gerasimenko elaborates on how the Dutch illustrate that justice can be a strategy in the article “They Did Not Forget and Were Not Afraid: Why the Netherlands Became a Symbol of True Solidarity with Ukraine.”