This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "2006 in the Netherlands" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

←

2006
in
the Netherlands

→

Decades:

Incumbents

Monarch: Beatrix of the Netherlands^[1]
Prime Minister: Jan Peter Balkenende^[2]

Events

January

January 1: A redivision of local government in South Holland and Utrecht comes into effect. Eleven existing municipalities are merged to form three new municipalities.
January 4: Prostitution in Arnhem's red light district, the Spijkerkwartier, ends. All prostitutes move to an industrial area on the outskirts of the city.
January 8: The remains of four babies are discovered in the backyard of a house in Beverwijk, North Holland. The woman living the house is arrested on suspicion of killing her four newborn children.
January 9: Protesters are removed from a forest in Schinveld, Limburg. The forest is cut down to facilitate airplanes landing at the NATO air force base in Geilenkirchen, Germany.
January 21: De Telegraaf newspaper reports that criminals have gotten hold of state secrets of the General Intelligence and Security Service.
January 30: Willem Holleeder, kidnapper of Freddy Heineken in 1983, is arrested on suspicion of extortion of several real estate magnates, including murdered Willem Endstra. Holleeder is also suspected of leading one of the organized crime entities in Amsterdam.

February

February 1: An apartment complex on the Bos en Lommerplein, Amsterdam is evacuated as tests indicate that the building is about to collapse. Local authorities declare the building unfit for habitation, while the constructor offers the residents alternative housing.
February 2: The House of Representatives votes in favour of the ISAF operation of the Netherlands Army in Orūzgān Province, Afghanistan.
February 3: Boris Dittrich resigns as fractievoorzitter of D66. He had indicated that his party would leave the government coalition if the mission to Afghanistan were approved, but said during the debate that this was a strategic remark aimed at swaying the opposition Labour Party to oppose the mission. This failed, and the admission led to widespread criticism within D66.
February 6: The Dutch government announces that it will return the art collection of Jacques Goudstikker to his heirs. The works of art had been confiscated by the Nazis during the Second World War. The Dutch government confiscated the works from the Nazi government in 1945 as "enemy assets."

March

March 1: The new health insurance system comes into force. The difference between private and mutual funds is lifted.
March 6: Milan Babić, former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, commits suicide in the detention unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
March 7: Dutch municipal elections, 2006: The winning parties are Labour Party and Socialist Party. fractievoorzitter Jozias van Aartsen of the VVD resigns after his party loses many seats.
March 10: Hofstad Network trial: Jason Walters and Ismail Akhnikh are convicted for membership of a terrorist organisation, for attempted murder and for illegal firearms possession. Walters received a 15-year prison sentence, while Akhnikh is sentenced to 13 years in prison.
March 11: Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia, is found dead in the detention unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

April

April 1: The party council of GreenLeft repeals the expulsion of Senate member Sam Pormes. He had been expelled from the party after lying about his involvement in terrorist activities.
April 20: Pub owner Thomas van der Bijl is shot dead outside his pub in Amsterdam. According to reports in De Telegraaf, police suspect that Van der Bijl had been involved in a failed smuggle of 30,000 kilos of narcotics. Van der Bijl was also believed to be a key prosecution witness in the trial against Willem Holleeder.
April 24: Medical authorities suspend the permit of the Radboud hospital in Nijmegen, Gelderland to perform heart surgeries, after an investigation reveals that the hospital fails the criteria.

May

May 6: The Netherlands military base in Seedorf, Lower Saxony, Germany is closed.
May 16: Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk says during a debate that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not a Dutch citizen, after reports that she had lied about her name and situation during her asylum application. Hirsi Ali immediately leaves the House of Representatives
May 30: Wilhelm Schippers is sentenced to eight years in prison and forced treatment in a psychiatric institution. Schippers had fled from his forced treatment in the Veldzicht clinic in Balkbrug, Overijssel while on a leave, and killed a 73-year-old man in Amsterdam while on the run. The case leads to a review of all leaves from forced treatments.
May 31: Members of the VVD choose Mark Rutte as the new lijsttrekker of the party in an internal election. He defeats Rita Verdonk and Jelleke Veenendaal.
May 31: The Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade is awarded the Order of William, the highest military decoration in the Netherlands, for its role in Operation Market Garden. Major General Stanisław Sosabowski is posthumously awarded the Bronze Lion.

June

June 8: Businessman Guus Kouwenhoven is sentenced to eight years in prison selling firearms to Liberian president Charles Taylor.
June 21: Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is transferred to The Hague, to be tried there by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
June 24: The orthodox Christian party SGP lifts its ban on female membership. The party had lost its government subsidy because a court in The Hague found the ban on female membership to be in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
June 24: Members of D66 choose Alexander Pechtold as the new lijsttrekker of the party in an internal election. He defeats Lousewies van der Laan.
June 27: Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk announces that Ayaan Hirsi Ali can retain her Dutch citizenship.
June 30: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende offers the resignation of the Second Balkenende cabinet. During a night debate, D66 fractievoorzitter Lousewies van der Laan announces that her party will leave the government in response to the way Rita Verdonk has handled the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's passport.

July

July 6: Two Dutch children flee to the Dutch embassy in Damascus, Syria. They had been taken to Syria a few years earlier by their Syrian father. The children wish to be reunited with their Dutch mother, but the father insists on his paternity rights.
July 6: The caretaker Third Balkenende cabinet, consisting of CDA and VVD, is formed.
July 11: Wilhelm Schippers, who had been sentenced to eight years in prison and forced psychiatric treatment on May 30, commits suicide in prison.
July 19: The International Four Days Marches Nijmegen are cancelled on the first day, after two participants die as a result of the intense heat.

August

August 1: The ISAF Task Force Uruzgan operation of the Netherlands Army in Orūzgān Province, Afghanistan starts.
August 1: The new spelling of the Dutch language comes into effect.
August 6: A staircase collapses during a concert in the centre of Utrecht. One person is killed, twenty people are injured.
August 8: The province of Groningen is hit by a magnitude 3.5 earthquake, the biggest ever to hit the region. The quake is caused by natural gas extraction from the Slochteren field.
August 14: Businessman René van den Berg is sentenced to five years in prison for an €85 million fraud.
August 18: Bluetongue disease is found on a farm in Kerkrade, Limburg.
August 25: Two people are killed when lightning strikes during a funeral in Vorden, Gelderland.
August 31: A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon crashes in Afghanistan, killing the 29-year-old pilot.

September

September 13: A row starts over an interview with Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner in the book Het land van haat en nijd (The Land of Hate and Malice). Donner says that democracy means that the sharia, Islamic legislation, can be introduced in the Netherlands as well.
September 14: Nova broadcasts the video testament of terrorism suspect Samir Azzouz.
September 19: Prinsjesdag: The government announces a budget surplus, the first since 2000
September 21: The Safety Investigation Board publishes its report about the 2005 Schiphol detention centre fire. Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner and the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Sybilla Dekker resign.
September 22: Former Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is announced as the successor of Piet Hein Donner. Former Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Pieter Winsemius succeeds Sybilla Dekker.

October

October 3: Police in Rotterdam show the media the reconstruction of the head of an unknown girl, whose remains had been found in several suitcases in the Meuse. It turns out to be a 12-year-old girl from Rotterdam called Gessica. Her father is arrested on suspicion of the murder.
October 6: The film Black Book, directed by Paul Verhoeven, wins three Golden Calf awards at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht.
October 12: Public broadcaster TROS says it considers cancelling the long running game show Lingo. An uproar follows, in which even Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende gets involved.
October 13: Five marines are suspended after misbehaviour towards the local population during a training in Karasjok, Norway.
October 30: The voting computers for the November 22 general election are disapproved in 35 municipalities.

November

November 1: Eighteen horses drown on the Waddenzee shore near Marrum, Friesland is flooded after a storm. The other horses, over 100 in number, seek refuge on an incline in the pasture. They are guided to the mainland two days later.
November 2: The governments of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles sign an agreement disbanding the Netherlands Antilles on July 1, 2007. Curaçao and Sint Maarten will become associated states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius will become Dutch municipalities.
November 7: The Mobiele Eenheid starts removing 25 squatters from Fort Pannerden fortress near Pannerden, Gelderland. The operation takes two days.
November 17: De Volkskrant reports that officers of the Military Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands have physically abused prisoners in the Iraqi governorate of Al Muthanna.
November 21: A passenger train and a cargo train collide at the train station of Arnhem, Gelderland. Thirty people are injured.
November 22: Dutch general election, 2006: The 2006 general elections are won by the Socialist Party. Other winners are Christian party ChristianUnion, the far right Party for Freedom and the animal rights party Party for the Animals. The ruling Christian Democratic Appeal loses three seats, but remains the largest party. The Pim Fortuyn List, the landslide winner of the Dutch general election, 2002, loses all its seats in parliament.
November 25: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands appoints Rein Jan Hoekstra as the informateur for the new government. His task will be to assess the possibility of a coalition of the CDA, the Labour Party and the Socialist Party.
November 27: A court in Amsterdam orders the coercive detention of two journalist of De Telegraaf newspaper, after they refuse to reveal the identity of their sources. The journalists had published classified information of the General Intelligence and Security Service.
November 28: Rita Verdonk requests an investigation into the election campaign of the VVD, after the official publication of the election results. Verdonk, the number 2 on the VVD list, received more votes than the lijsttrekker Mark Rutte.
November 30: The new House of Representatives passes a motion requesting a stop to the expulsion of around 26,000 asylum seekers who arrived in the Netherlands more than five years ago.

December

December 1: Eight-year-old Jesse Dingemans of Hoogerheide, North Brabant, is stabbed to death inside his elementary school. A 22-year-old man from the same village is arrested near the school a few hours later on suspicion of the murder.
December 1: Alleged Hofstad Network member Samir Azzouz is sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiring to commit a terrorist attack in the Netherlands. Three other suspects receive sentences of three to four years.
December 6: Gerdi Verbeet (Labour Party) becomes the new President of the House of Representatives.
December 7: TV program Nova reports that Turkish-Dutch politician Fatma Koşer Kaya (D66) has been voted into parliament after a Turkish government officials had sent an e-mail to about 200,000 Dutch citizens of Turkish origin, asking them to vote for her. Koşer Kaya, who refused to speak about the issue of the Armenian genocide, was sixth on the list of candidates for D66, but received more than enough votes to be elected to parliament directly.
December 11: CDA, the Labour Party and the Socialist Party end their negotiations for the formation of a new government.
December 12: The House of Representatives passes a motion of censure against Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk, who had indicated that she would not honour the motion it had passed on November 30.
December 13: Rita Verdonk loses the immigration portfolio after a 10-hour emergency meeting by the cabinet. The portfolio is taken over by Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin. In return, Verdonk receives the responsibility over youth care, prevention and probation.
December 20: Herman Wijffels takes over from Rein Jan Hoekstra as the informateur for the new government. Wijffels will assess the possibility of a coalition of CDA, the Labour Party and ChristianUnion.
December 22: Sara and Ammar, the two children who had fled to the Dutch embassy in Damascus, Syria on July 6, return to the Netherlands, after representatives of the Dutch government reach an agreement with the Syrian government and with the children's Syrian father.
December 24: Three men are arrested on the suspicion of murdering banker Willem Endstra in 2004. The DNA of one of the suspects had been found on the presumed murder weapon.
December 30: Talk show host Sonja Barend ends her career during a live show, after 40 years in the business. During the show, Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen announces that Barend has been awarded the title of Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Sports

See worldwide 2006 in sports

January 6: Michaëlla Krajicek and Peter Wessels reach the final of the 2006 Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, losing against Lisa Raymond and Taylor Dent of the United States.
January 13: Michaëlla Krajicek wins the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia.
January 13: Chelsea F.C. winger Arjen Robben opens the Euroborg, the new stadium of his former club FC Groningen.
January 14: Korfball club PKC of Papendrecht, South Holland win the European Cup for the tenth time, defeating Belgian side Riviera in the final.
January 15: Jelle Klaasen defeats Raymond van Barneveld in the final of the 2006 BDO World Darts Championship.
January 23: Pierre van Hooijdonk signs a contract with his former club Feyenoord Rotterdam, leaving NAC Breda.
January 29: Viswanathan Anand wins the Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, North Holland.
January 29: Marianne Vos wins the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zeddam, Gelderland.
February 5: The Klassieker between Feyenoord and Ajax ends in a 3–2 home victory for Feyenoord.
February 10–12: The Netherlands lose the 2006 Davis Cup first round match against the later winners Russia 5–0.
February 12: Ireen Wüst wins the women's 3000 metres speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Renate Groenewold wins silver.
February 16: The Netherlands men's speed skating team pursuit team wins a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
February 19: Marianne Timmer wins the women's 1000 metres speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
February 24: Bob de Jong wins the Men's 10000 metres speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
February 28: The rape charges against football player Robin van Persie (Arsenal) are discontinued.
March 1: The Netherlands defeats Ecuador 1–0 in a friendly football match held in Amsterdam.
March 8: PSV are eliminated by Olympique Lyonnais in the second round of the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League.
March 14: Ajax are eliminated by Internazionale in the second round of the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League.
March 25: Ellen van Dijk wins the Women's road race at the 2006 World University Cycling Championship
March 14: Thomas Dekker wins the Tirreno-Adriatico 2006.
March 31: Excelsior win the Eerste Divisie title by defeating rivals VVV.
April 9: Long-distance runner Kamiel Maase wins his third Dutch marathon title, clocking 2:10:44.2 in the Rotterdam Marathon.

Births

April 8: Robin van Duiven, Malaysian footballer
June 3: Countess Leonore of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg

Deaths

January–June

January 1: Bart Bosman, 63, biologist
January 2: Henk de Looper, 93, field hockey player, Olympic bronze medalist
January 4: Nel van Vliet, 79, Olympic and European swimming champion and former world record holder
January 8: Joop van Elsen, 89, politician and resistance fighter
January 9: Gerrie Kleton, 52, football player
January 19: Jos Staatsen, 62, former chairman of the Royal Dutch Football Association
January 19: Fred van der Werff, 90, retail entrepreneur
January 22: Rick van der Linden, 59, musician, Ekseption
January 26: Pieter Terpstra, 86, journalist and author
February 3: Joop van der Reijden, 79, former secretary of state, former chairman of public broadcaster NOS and of commercial television station Veronica
March 22: Ria Beckers, 67, former member of the House of Representatives for PPR and GreenLeft.
March 25: Joop Admiraal, 68, actor
March 25: Frits Fentener van Vlissingen, 72, entrepreneur, industrialist, billionaire. One of the richest persons in the Netherlands.
April 3: Frédérique Huydts, 38, actress
April 8: Gerard Reve, 82, author and poet
April 20: Sylvia de Leur, 72, actress and comedian
May 3: Karel Appel, 85, COBRA painter
May 5: Marijke Höweler, 67, author
May 6: Han Reiziger, 72, television presenter of music programmes
May 21: Willem van Beusekom, 59, television presenter
June 5: Friso Wiegersma, 80, songwriter
June 15: Bert Klunder, 49, comedian

July–December

July 7: Rudi Carrell, 71, TV show host
July 11: Wilhelm Schippers, 41, criminal
July 20: Theo Sijthoff, 69, cyclist and fashion designer
August 1: Johannes Willebrands, 96, cardinal, former Archbishop of Utrecht.
August 1: Krijn Torringa, 66, radio dj
August 21: Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, 65, entrepreneur, industrialist, billionaire, philanthropist. One of the richest persons in the Netherlands.
October 22: Paul Biegel, 81, author.
November 26: Cri Stellweg, 84, columnist.
December 2: Mariska Veres, 59, singer of Shocking Blue.^[3]
December 14: Robert Long, 63, singer.
December 23: Frans Haks, 68, art historian and museum director.

References

^ "Netherlands Queen Beatrix abdicates". BBC News. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
^ "Visit of Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands". www.mea.gov.in. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
^ "Mariska Veres". The Independent. 5 December 2006. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2018.

v t e Years in the Netherlands (1815–present)
Pre-1815 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2006 in Europe
Sovereign states	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2006 in the Netherlands.

Incumbents

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Sports

See also

Births

Deaths

January–June

July–December

See also

References