X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Jan Peter Balkenende


2003 Dutch cabinet formation

After a parliamentary debate concerning the information and the coalition agreement on May 20, the informateurs did report to queen Beatrix and the same evening Jan Peter Balkenende was appointed as Formateur.

Opinio

In 2008, Dutch premier Jan Peter Balkenende started legal proceedings against the magazine due to its claim that Balkanende had described Islam as a problem.


EĆ©nVandaag

The parliamentarians chose as their best politician the Socialist Party leader Jan Marijnissen, followed by CDA leader (and Prime Minister at the time) Jan Peter Balkenende, followed by Wouter Bos (leader of the PvdA).

Karel De Gucht

In June 2005 De Gucht caused a minor diplomatic spat with the Netherlands when he referred to the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende as "a mix between Harry Potter and a rigid bourgeois without charisma" in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, a popular Belgian newspaper.

Retecool

Another picture showed the face of the Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management Camiel Eurlings morphing into that of Prime-Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.


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