Prime Minister Rutte and ministers Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) and Ollongren (Defence) will nevertheless be present on Thursday, when Ukrainian President Zelensky addresses the House of Representatives. Chamber President Bergkamp has asked them and they have indicated that they will make use of the invitation.
Earlier it seemed that Rutte was not welcome. In an interview on Instagram, the prime minister said the House did not want him to attend the video speech. “They say: we really want to do that as a Chamber. So I’m not there.”
Zelensky’s speech is a first. Never before has a foreign head of state spoken in the House of Representatives. This is now done via a video link in the plenary hall. Rutte, Hoekstra and Ollongren are members of the cabinet as guests. They are not in the cabinet section, section K, but in the president’s lodge,
Zelensky has recently addressed numerous parliaments, including the US Congress and the British House of Commons.
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