In the collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and Princess Laurentien’s foundation for the victims of the allowance affair, ’emotions have sometimes run high’. This is how the ministry responded to reports from the ADwhich states that several reports of inappropriate behavior regarding the princess have been received by top officials.
‘A number of our colleagues’ have made a verbal report of emotions, the ministry confirms, but a spokesperson does not want to say how many and whether there was any question of transgressive behavior. ‘We will stick to this text.’ The spokesperson also leaves it unclear whether the reports were about Laurentien, as the AD reports, or about other employees of her foundation.
Careful
‘The verbal reports were made confidentially and were handled carefully,’ the Finance Department’s response states. ‘We believe that our employees should be able to count on this remaining the case and we will therefore not make any further statements about this.’
To trust
The Government Information Service reports that the Ministry of General Affairs has been informed of the reports, ‘in the confidence that the Ministry of Finance will handle the reports carefully’.
Allowances affair
The Foundation (Equal) Worthy Recovery (SGH), founded by Princess Laurentien, helps parents affected by the allowance affair. There has been much ado about the approach the foundation uses for this. The ‘Laurentien method’ is more generous than recovery procedures that the Ministry of Finance itself has set up. According to calculations by civil servants, this could cost billions extra, and there were concerns about the explainability and feasibility of the compensation. Nevertheless, there was broad support for the approach in the House of Representatives.
Large scale
Parents were also enthusiastic, but an initial test with some three hundred files did not immediately convince the Ministry of Finance. The department doubted, among other things, whether the method could be applied on a large scale. Last month it was announced that the foundation had reached an agreement with Finance, so that it can continue to help victims.
soon
SGH writes in a response that anonymous officials put Laurentien in a ‘bad light’ with ‘slanderous accusations’. ‘Nobody, especially the affected families, benefits from even more unrest surrounding the recovery approach.’ The foundation denies the image that is being portrayed in the AD comes forward and links the reports to the benefits scandal itself. ‘Aggrieved parents inside and outside the foundation refer to the personal attack as the pattern that they themselves have had to endure. It is a pattern of abuse of power, false accusations and having to prove innocence.’
Emotional
The foundation does acknowledge in the statement that ’emotions’ were involved in the ‘intensive collaboration’ on the princess’ recovery method. ‘The foundation regrets that those involved from both organizations experienced the process as emotionally and heavily at times.’
Legal steps
Princess Laurentien and her foundation are considering taking legal action if the AD does not rectify, a spokesperson added on Wednesday evening. ‘We hold freedom of the press in high regard. But it AD cannot just say something without substantiating or proving it.’
Journalist
AD editor-in-chief Rennie Rijpma states that ‘we would never publish unfounded matters. Our journalist has done good, substantive work. We look forward to the steps with confidence.’
