Dutch Coalition sets 18-ministers, Van der Burg for Kingdom Relations State Secretary

THE HAGUE--The parties set to form the Netherlands’ next coalition government have agreed how to divide 18 ministerial posts and 10 junior minister roles.

As the largest coalition partner, D66 will deliver the prime minister, with Rob Jetten in line for the job. D66 will also take responsibility for foreign trade and development aid, housing, education, agriculture, climate, and social affairs.

The VVD is set to lead justice, finance, defense, health, employment, and infrastructure, while the CDA will oversee foreign affairs, immigration, home affairs, economic affairs, and long-term care.

Each party will have three junior ministers spread across various portfolios. The tenth junior minister is expected to be non-aligned, with Sandra Palmen, who was tasked by the previous cabinet with handling the childcare benefits scandal, widely expected to remain. The current finance minister, Eelco Heinen, is also set to stay on.

The coalition has decided to keep the ministry names and titles introduced by the outgoing cabinet, meaning the immigration, housing, and climate ministers will continue operating within other departments, each with their own budgets. Jetten said the aim is a “decisive and tight” government, adding that ministers will need to stay focused on solving problems and be prepared to work with opposition parties, since the coalition will not hold a majority in either chamber.

The remaining appointments are expected to be finalized in the coming days, ahead of the cabinet’s presentation to the king on February 23, or possibly earlier. CDA leader Henri Bontenbal has indicated he will remain in the lower house. D66 will need a new parliamentary leader once Jetten moves to the cabinet, and the VVD may face the same if Dilan Yeşilgöz joins the government, with reports suggesting she could take the defense portfolio.

The VVD’s Eric van der Burg is widely expected to be appointed State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior with responsibility for Kingdom Relations and “Decisive Government” in the incoming cabinet led by Rob Jetten. If confirmed, he would take over from Eddy van Marum, who has been handling the Kingdom Relations portfolio on an interim basis under the outgoing Schoof cabinet.

Van der Burg, a longtime People's Party for Freedom and Democracy administrator born in Amsterdam in 1965, previously served as State Secretary for Justice and Security with responsibility for asylum and migration policy in the Rutte IV cabinet from January 2022 to July 2024. He later returned to parliament, serving as a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands. In the new cabinet, expected to be sworn in on February 23, 2026 as a minority coalition of D66, VVD and CDA, the Kingdom Relations portfolio will remain a key post for the countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten.

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