By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers
On Wednesday night, Ukrainians removed the statue of the 18th-century empress of Russia Catherine the Great in the southern city of Odesa after the regional council passed a resolution to dismantle monuments symbolising the Russian imperial past. A de-russification of Ukraine in answer to Putin’s de-ukrainization of the occupied territories.
On 27 October 2007, I was in Odesa and I attended the inauguration of the statue of Catherine II which was already controversial at that time.
On the one hand, there were fireworks and after the ceremony, a concert by the Odesa Philarmonic orchestra. On the other hand, there were numerous attempts from the highest authorities to counteract the installation of the monument in Odesa. Then-President Viktor Yushchenko spoke out against the monument. Representatives of Ukrainian nationalist parties and movements arrived to the city especially to disrupt the event. The Cossacks demonstrated against the official ceremony stressing that they had been persecuted by the Russian Empress when she conquered the regions along the Black Sea from the Ottoman Empire. For security reasons Ekaterinskaya Square was surrounded by the police cordon that then separated supporters and opponents of the ceremony.
At that time, public opinion was still very much divided between supporters of Ukrainian sovereignty hostile to Russia and pro-Russian Ukrainians in the eastern and southern parts of the country who usually voted for Russophile political parties at each election. This rip came to an end with the election of Volodymyr Zelensky as president of the country who was known and appreciated as a famous comedian by all segments of society. In 2019, he won the presidential election in almost all the oblasts.
A difficult but democratic decision
Since the 24 February invasion, the statue of the city’s founder, which towers over a central square and looks onto the Black Sea, has been vandalised repeatedly, which prompted many Ukrainians to reject their country’s historical ties to Moscow. There were vivid debates among the population, political parties and in the city council. The inhabitants of the Black Sea Pearl were largely consulted about the fate of the statue.
On 30 November, Odesa City Council supported the dismantling of monuments to Russian military leader Alexander Suvorov and the “Founders of Odesa”, better known as the monument to Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
Earlier, a vote on the monument to Catherine II was held in Odesa. According to the mayor of the city Gennadiy Trukhanov, the majority of Odesa residents who voted supported the idea of dismantling the monument. Subsequently, the decision was supported by the executive committee of the city council.
It seems that the statue will be housed at the Odessa Art Museum. The option of moving the monument to another location essentially suited the conflicting parties.
Bottom picture by Willy Fautré on 27 October 2007 – Published by HRWF
The Moscow Times (20.12.2022) – https://bit.ly/3v7T74C – Russia’s Justice Ministry has filed for a court order to shut down one of the country’s most prominent and respected human rights organizations, the RIA Novosti news agencyreportedon Tuesday.
In its legal filing, the Justice Ministry claimed that the Moscow Helsinki Group had violated unspecified “legal requirements” while carrying out its activities, a statement on the group’s website said.
Founded in 1976 by a group of Russian dissidents led by Soviet physicist Yuri Orlov, the group was named for the landmark 1975 Helsinki Accords on human rights and grew to become one of the principal civil society mechanisms for exposing human rights abuses in both the Soviet Union and Russia.
As well as working to protect human rights, the Moscow Helsinki Group has for years also been sending proposed legislative initiatives to the State Duma, requesting the transfer of those held in pre-trial detention to house arrest, calling for an amnesty of prisoners and urging the state to protect journalists.
In order to avoid being labeled a foreign agent in 2012 in the wake of new legislation, the group announced that it would no longer accept any foreign funding to finance its work.
Even if the legal move to “liquidate” the organization is successful, it won’t be the group’s first experience falling foul of the law. In 1982, following the arrest or forced emigration of many of its members, the group’s activities ceased, only for them to start up again just seven years later when Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of perestroika took hold.
In March, a Russian court confirmed the dissolution of another prominent rights group, Memorial, which was subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The so-called Administrative Council comprised 122 member States governing the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). The PCA was established in The Hague in 1899 during the first Hague Peace Conference. It provides services to resolve disputes that arise out of international agreements between member States, international organizations or private parties and deals with a variety of cases.
In 2021, the PCA registered 204 cases, consisting of seven inter-State arbitrations, 114 investor-State arbitrations, 80 contract-based arbitrations and 2 other proceedings. Topics are for instance inter-State arbitrations arising from the Constitution of the Universal Postal Union and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It deals with a wide range of economic sectors like oil and gas, mining and quarrying, construction, real estate, financial and insurance, electricity and power, telecommunications, and transportation and storage.
The Administrative Council is responsible for the general governance and oversight of the PCA’s activities, as well as financial and budgetary matters. The ambassador of The Philippines in The Hague, H.E. J. Eduardo Malaya, has been appointed President for the period 2023-2024 during a Council meeting this month. Ambassador Malaya is a lawyer himself, vice-president of Philippine Society of International Law and a distinguished member of the Executive Council of Asian Society of International Law.
Ambassador Malaya is the first Philippine national to have been elected to this relevant position. He is a renowned figure in diplomatic circles. Ambassador Malaya is the author (or editor) of nine books on international law, diplomacy and history, such as “Stewards of the Nation” considered a classic for everyone who is interested in the history of the Republic of Philippines.
Large crowds of Ambassadors, diplomats, friends and others came together at the Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus The Hague on 7 December 2022 to felicitate and join H.E. Mr. Nasser Ibrahim Allenqawi, Ambassador of the State of Qatar, in celebrating his country’s National Day. Featuring the program, playing of the national anthems of Qatar and the Netherlands, screening a historical documentary, drawing of Qatar Airways tickets and Ambassador Nasser Ibrahim Allenqawi welcomes his guests. Another speaker at the event was Mr Marc Gerrtisen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ambassador mentioned in his statement.
“Qatar National Day is a great occasion where the people of Qatar show cohesion, solidarity and unity in meanings of love for homeland. It is the Day of pride of the wise leadership of H.H the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad AI-Thani,حفظه الله the leader of the process of achievements, development and promising future.
The slogan of Qatar National Day 2022 “Our Unity Source of Our Strength,” quoted from a speech of HH the Amir which is affirming the approach of uniting people of Qatar to face challenges and achieve objectives.
The celebration of Qatar National Day is particularly important this year, as it coincidence with Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Both events are an opportunity for us to show our culture to the world. During this period, visitors to Qatar will learn about the bright aspects of our history and culture, and test our belief in civilized interaction with other cultures, and our respect and pride in our Arab and Islamic values.
The tournament of 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar brought the people together and unified the feelings, and affirmed that the world can be united to face the major challenges that threaten all humanity. As a trusted international partner, State of Qatar believes in supporting the collective initiatives and the multilateral action.
The State of Qatar is eager to support all efforts aimed at promoting cultural and civilized openness among the world. The State of Qatar pays great attention to develop its relations with countries and regional and international organizations, and actively contributes in promoting international peace and security through mediation to settle disputes by peaceful means, and supports development and stability projects in different countries.
The mediations of the State of Qatar in Sudan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chad and others, have not just paved the ways for building peace, stability and development in these countries, but also at the regional and international levels. The State of Qatar strongly believes that the peaceful means are the best way to resolve conflicts and end wars.
I would like to also highlight the excellent bilateral relations between the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which obviously have been strengthened during the years through a constructive partnership and open dialogue based on mutual respect, building of the long established relationship that continues to grow on all fields and levels for the benefit of our two Friendly Peoples.
Before ending my speech, I would like to thank my dear wife and diplomatic colleagues for organizing this fabulous event today and I take this opportunity to wish you as well happy holidays and a new year filled with the blessings of happiness, success, and good health.“
The evening continued in the ballroom with a sitting dinner guest savoured the 3-course international-middle eastern style dinner, including the gorgeous “Holland-Qatar cake”. Ambassador Nasser Ibrahim Allenqawi cut the first slice. The evening was spent with a festiveatmosphere.
Wednesday, 14 December 2022, Brussels, European Union: The EU’s capital served as host for the very first summit held between the leaders of EU and ASEAN member states, thus marking 45 years of diplomatic relations. The summit’s co-chairmanship fell upon the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the 2022 ASEAN Chair, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen.
The EU and the ASEAN became strategic partners in 2020.
Two major side-line events were held in connection with the diplomatic jubilee, namely the 10th EU-ASEAN business summit as well as EU-ASEAN youth summit.
ASEAN is the EU’s third largest trading partner outside Europe, after the USA and China.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand by Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand itself. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN in 1984, followed by Vietnam in 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. The ten member states of ASEAN have an estimated total population of about 668 million. The secretariat of the association is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Both the EU and ASEAN are the most integrated regional organizations worldwide.
By Major General (Two Stars)) (retd) Corneliu Pivariu
On December 8, 2022, the meeting of the Council of Justice and Home Affairs, which had on its agenda topics concerning the expansion of the Schengen area to include new countries took place in Brussels. Formal votes were to be cast in favour of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. Croatia was accepted while Romania and Bulgaria, who were long supposed to join together the area, were vetoed by Austria and the Netherlands (the latter mentioned it voted only against Bulgaria’s joining the area).
The meeting of the Council took place on the background of the greatest ever corruption scandal within the EU, including the detention of the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, who already acknowledged partially the charges against her.
It seems that the Brussels-based bureaucracy is still living in a bubble they think it can protect them from all the present and coming geopolitical developments not only internally, in the European Union, but also globally. A great error!.
Austria vetoed Romania’s joining the Schengen area although it met the requirements 11 years ago and Romania’s Accession Treaty to the EU stipulates that Bucharest’s joining the Schengen area should take place within five years from the accession date. It is quite possible that Vienna’s vote represented the options that some other countries might had but lacking factual elements in that respect I prefer not to elaborate.
It is obvious that such a situation proves a fragility of the EU and the fact that at the leadership level of the Union there is not a strong cohesion as the domestic interests of one country may prevail in front of a European Parliament’s decision. In the light of the conflict in Ukraine, this is a signal that can be interpreted as proof of the fact that Russia still enjoys a great power of influence at the European level.
What else could have happened in Vienna when Austria is among the biggest investors in Romania (more than 12 billion euro and more than 7,500 companies) involving names such as OMV-Petrom, BCR-Erste Bank, HS Timber Production (former Holzindustrie Schweighofer), Immofinanz şi Porr Construct?
Between political reality and nostalgia?
Leaving aside not only Austria’s economic interests but also those of other countries within or without the EU to whom Romania gave away much too easily and in very advantageous conditions for the former, in my opinion, a great part of the riches of the Romanian soil and subsoil thus reaching a point where its decision-making capacity was limited, I notice not only Vienna’s attitude of a former Imperial capital but also a kind of nostalgia. The young Austrian Chancellor should be aware that all through history no empire raised again ever.
It is in this framework that I notice – somehow surprising – the apologies presented on Monday, December 18, 2022, by the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on behalf of the Government of the Netherlands for the historic role played by his country in what concern slavery and slave trade in spite of the requests of delaying such an acknowledgement.
Is it possible that Austria pursues a similar path in what concern Romania?
To this effect, Professor Sorin Ilieșiu addressed recently to the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer an open letter presented below:
Mr. Chancellor,
Do you think Romania would ever request Austria to reimburse the damages inflicted by the latter illegitimate occupation of two Romanian territories: Transylvania (between 1691-1918) and Bukovina (between 1774-1918)? Or could ever Austria reimburse Romania the damages inflicted for the exploitation of eleven generations of Romanians (representing in total some tens of millions of people) as well as for its extraction and appropriation of the huge natural resources from the said territories? (Would ever Austria return to Romania the Carpathian gold brought unlawfully to Vienna?)
Do you think Romania could be entitled to request Austria to reimburse the damage inflicted by the “killing in effigy” of the Romanian people by breaking with a wheel or by impalement of tens of leaders of the revolution led by Horea, Cloșca and Crișan (1784-1785), a revolution which, through some of its ideals, inspired the French Revolution that started four years later? We notice that nowhere else at those times in Europe such atrocious executions were still being practiced as those through which Horea and Cloșca were martyrised according to the order given by Austria’s Emperor: “all their bodies’ limbs must be shattered by wheel from toe to head, firstly to Cloșca and then to Horea /…/ and their bodies be chopped up and cut in four, and their heads and body parts be laid on wheels alongside different roads”. At that time, the Imperial House in Vienna appointed Baron Samuel von Bruckenthal as Governor of the Great Principality of Transylvania.
During the 1848-1849 Revolution, 40,000 Romanians died not only for nullifying the illegal union of Transylvania with Hungary but also for “Austria’s triumph”. As a token of “gratitude” and after 18 years, in 1867, Austria’s Emperor dictated Transylvania’s annexation to Hungary, fully aware that such a decision can lead, within around 100 years, to the disappearance of the Romanian people in Transylvania through Magyarization, namely by forbidding the Romanian language, by replacing the Romanian names with Hungarian names and by replacing the “Romanian religion” with the “Hungarian” or the “Austrian” ones. Fortunately, after 50 years, in 1918, the annexation was nullified by the unification of Transylvania with Romania, the mother-country.
Do you think that Romania could be entitled to request to be reimbursed by everything the Romanians endured during the 50 years of terror (1867-1918) as a result of Austria’s decision to annex Transylvania to Hungary?
Regretfully, we have to mention the incredible attitude of the Emperor of Austria in 1892 when he not only declined to receive, let alone to read, the Memorandum for observing the Romanians’ rights in Transylvania. Later on, the Emperor consented to sending to prison of the Romanian leaders, although the Romanians were the most loyal subjects of the Empire for more than 200 years.
Let us not forget that during those two centuries, millions of Romanians from Transylvania and from Bukovina, subjects of the Emperor of Austria, were compelled to fight in the wars of the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Romanians were sent to the frontlines and were considered “ideal soldiers”. In all those wars, the Romanians were the most decorated heroes and those who suffered most losses in battles.
During The Great War, the Romanian soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army were compelled in an outrageous way to fight against their very brothers from the Kingdom of Romania, although they could have been sent on other fronts.
Do you therefore think that for all these, and for many others, could Austria ever decide to grant Romania moral and material damages?
Last, but not the least, Austria is not allowed to forget that in 1918 the Romanians saved it from the Communist regime. At the end of The Great War, Vienna, Austria’s capital was on the brink of the Bolshevik revolution as the Austrian army was collapsing after losing the war. For preventing the arrival of Communism, Iuliu Maniu, the leader of the Romanians in Transylvania and Ioan Boeriu, a Romanian General (Field Marshal) in the Imperial army (raised to the rank of baronet in recognition of the great victories in the war) requested the War Ministry in Vienna that the military units in Austria, made up mostly of Transylvanian Romanians, come under their command. The request was immediately endorsed and the Romanian army of 160,000 soldiers, almost all Romanians, led by Boeriu and Maniu restored order in Vienna (and soon after in Prague), preventing completely the setting up of the Soviet regime in 1918 in the very heart of Europe (mention should be made of the fact that in August 1918, the Romanian army upon the request of the Allies who were terrified by the danger of Communization of Europe occupied Budapest and wiped out in March, 1919, the Soviet regime set up in Hungary by Lenin’s operative Bela Kun).
Professor (PhD) Sorin Ilieșiu, Senator of Romania (2012-2016)
POST SCRIPTUM. I emphasize the fact that the harm done to the Romanians by the Imperial Austria during more than two centuries could not be “equated” in any case with your amending your vote concerning Romania’s joining Schengen area.
Mr. KARL NEHAMMER CHANCELLOR OF AUSTRIA VIENNA
Those who do not know the history are doomed to repeat it with the mention that empires are never born again and, as the great historian of the international relations Jean Baptiste Durocelle said, “tout empire perira”.
Corneliu Pivariu. Photographer: Ionus Paraschiv.
About the author:
Corneliu Pivariu is a highly decorated two-star general of the Romanian army (Rtd). He has founded and led one of the most influential magazines on geopolitics and international relations in Eastern Europe, the bilingual journal Geostrategic Pulse, for two decades. General Pivariu is a member of IFIMES Advisory Board.
Published by Ifimes / International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies
The Pakistan Embassy in the Netherlands has organized an exhibition of Pakistani contemporary art “PAKART” in The Hague.
The exhibition runs from 17th December 2022 to 8th January 2023. The grand overture was on 16th December 2022, in the presence of many Ambassadors based in The Hague and persons with interest in art.
H.E. Ms. Dewi van de Weerd, Ambassador for International and Cultural Cooperation, Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Netherlands.
His Excellency Ambassador Suljuk Mustansar Tarar is an aesthete person. He is the publisher of the book All That Art. The book is about vibrant Pakistani art and its global presence and recognizes the work of several artists across different generations – both in Pakistan and abroad.
Moreover, the book looks at art and architecture from an insider and a distance. It is an art critique that narrates individual stories and trajectories of a select group of artists through a personal lens.
H.E. Ms. Adia Sakiqi, Ambassador of Albania and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps together with H.E. Ms. Sahar Ghanem, Ambassador of Yemen.
Pakistan and the Netherlands will mark 75 years of their diplomatic relations in 2023. PAKART is a Public and Cultural Diplomacy initiative by the Pakistan Embassy in the Netherlands to bring Pakistani art, culture and heritage to the people of the Netherlands.
PAKART exhibition brings the works of twelve renowned Pakistani contemporary artists belonging to three generations showing the depth and breadth of visual artwork done in Pakistan. It includes traditional miniature, painting, landscape painting, printmaking, sculpture, and video installations.
Participants in the exhibition are some of Pakistan’s leading and internationally known: Atif Khan, Bashir Ahmed, Fawad Jafri, Imran Channa, Imran Qureshi, Iram Wani, Jamil Baloch, Naheed Fakhar, Nazir Ahmed, Noor Chagani, R. M. Naeem, and Yaseen Khan.
H.E. M. Abdel Sattar Issa, Ambassador of Lebanon and Ambassador Tarar of Pakistan host of the event. H.E. Mr. Nasser Ibrahim Mohammad Hussein Allenqawi, Ambassador of Qatar and the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, the Ambassador of Albania, H.E. Ms. Adia Sakiqi.
Ambassador Suljuk Mustansar Tarar related how the exhibition was curated and the current status of contemporary art in Pakistan. He mentioned different types of work and how contemporary miniature painting from Pakistan has become a global art movement.
He also mentioned the cultural links between Pakistan and the Netherlands and that Pakistani visual artists like others in the world have been inspired by the Dutch masters during their education or careers.
Imran Channa, Pakistani artist.
The artist Imran Channa was present at the exhibition showing three of his works. Two are erased drawings, Pasts in Pencil. Medium: pencil and erasure on paper. Size: 50×76 cm. Year: 2018.
The other work is The Promised Land. Year: 2022. In an interview, Imran recounted it as a three-channel interactive video game installation based on Dutch East Indies Film archives from the Eye Film Museum, Amsterdam.
The artist made each object with Autodesk Maya, Zbrush, Substance Painter, and Unreal Engine 4 and programmed the game. Guests had the opportunity to try their hand.
Furthermore, call it the centrepiece of the show, safely behind the glass was an artwork by Noor Chagani. Title: Pillars of Pakistan, Medium: Concrete. Size: 28.5 x 7.5 inches. Year: 2021.
The Ambassador of Pakistan with H.E. Mr. Arnoldo Brenes Castro, Ambassador of Costa Rica and H.E. Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, Ambassador of Rwanda.
Mrs. Dewi van de Weerd, the Dutch Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation, also spoke at the occasion. She very much appreciated the hosting of the exhibition the Pakistan embassy is leveraging cultural diplomacy.
A Pakistani treat of drinks and snacks was served.
It has been an evening replete with art and colours from Pakistan.
CSP-27th session of the Conference of the States Parties convened on 28 November -2 December 2022 for their annual meeting. The Conference of the States Parties oversees the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, promotes the Convention’s objectives, and reviews compliance with the treaty. The Conference is made up of representatives of all Member States of the OPCW, each of which has one vote.
A causerie took place with the chairperson of the CSP-27th session of the Conference of the States Parties, H.E. Mr. Vusi Madonsela Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiary of the Republic of South Africa in the Netherlands. Asked about him occupying the chairmanship of such an august institution, Ambassador Madonsela responded.
“It was a privilege of great distinction for my country, and for me personally, to have been nominated by the Africa Group of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Conventionfor elevation to the position of Chairperson of the 27th Session of the Conference of States Parties (CSP) on 28 November 2022. This is a position of enormous responsibility, in which I will continue to serve until the 28th Session of the CSP in November/December 2023. I am humbled by the confidence shown in South Africa’s capability to steer the ship through what many had predicted would be stormy waters. I am eternally grateful to all States Parties, without exception, for their cooperation given to me throughout the Conference and their unequivocal support in the period leading to the conference.
Sitting at the helm of the highest policy decision making platform of the OPCW thrust upon me an opportunity to deepen my knowledge and understanding of the policies of the organisation and, more importantly, cement my appreciation of the rules of procedure of the CSP. I now possess a bird’s eye view of the work of the organisation. I am indebted to the African States Parties for their unceasing encouragement to rise to the occasion.
The Chemical Weapons Convention is a landmark international legal instrument, being the first to eliminate an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. The Organisation brings together 193 States Parties to the Convention, which could be described as the world’s most successful disarmament treaty. It enjoys almost complete universality – with only four States yet to join it.
While the almost universality of the Chemical Weapons Convention warrants celebration, the OPCW continues to encourage non-State Parties to ratify it. Despite almost universality of the CWC, the greatest threat of the use of chemical weapons largely emanates from Non-State Actors. This is a matter that the OPCW is seized with, working together with fraternal organisations that collaborate on international efforts against terrorism. Undoubtedly, the OPCW is a great contributor to a safer world: one free of weapons of mass destruction.“
With the support of Eurojust, authorities in Italy and Albania have dismantled an online investment fraud involving the use of cryptocurrencies. During an action, EUR 3 million worth of assets were seized.Eurojust supported the judicial cooperation and assisted the authorities in setting up and funding a joint investigation team (JIT).
According to the investigation, the investment fraud was carried out by an organised crime group (OCG) that operated from a call centre in Tirana, Albania. The suspects allegedly contacted victims by telephone using unidentifiable virtual numbers and delocalised virtual private networks (VPNs). They asked the victims to create an account on a portal and, once the transfer had been made, reset the newly created account, embezzled the sum received and made themselves untraceable.
The perpetrators gained the trust of the victims by allowing them to secure an immediate financial gain against a small initial investment. After consulting seemingly reputable online trading platforms, the victims were contacted by alleged ‘brokers’ that proposed advantageous investments in cryptocurrencies with zero risk.
In the second phase of the scam, the perpetrators obtained access to the victims’ personal home banking pages (using PC remote control software) and convinced them to invest their entire economic capital. In the final stage, the victims that uncovered the deception were contacted by other members of the OCG, who convinced them to make additional payments to recover the lost funds.
The total damage caused is estimated at EUR 15 million.
In an action coordinated by Eurojust from 13 to 15 December, precautionary detention orders were executed against the main suspects of the fraud. Thirteen locations were searched in Albania.
In Italy and Albania, more than 160 electronic devices (computers, servers and digital video recorders), 1 mobile phone and EUR 3 million worth of assets (including 11 properties) were seized.
The case was opened at Eurojust by the Italian authorities in 2020. In addition to supporting the establishment of the JIT and providing it with funding, Eurojust actively facilitated the cross-border judicial cooperation between the national authorities involved. The Agency organised four coordination meetings and a coordination centre during the action.
The following authorities took part in this investigation:
Italy: Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pisa; Carabinieri Pisa
Albania: Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK); Albanian State Police, Department of Criminal Police, C”Unit-Computer Crime Investigations
From 1 January 2023, the level of the statutory minimum wage and the youth minimum wage will change. This time, because of inflation and to make work more attractive, the increase is much higher than usual.
From 1 January 2023, for the first time since the introduction of the statutory minimum wage, a special increase will be applied on top of the normal indexation of wages. The aim, according to the government, is both to make work more attractive and to ensure a better living wage. Indeed, many benefits are linked to the level of the minimum wage.
This increase is the first in a series of three. Special increase is also scheduled for 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025. In addition, there is a proposal, which is also backed by the government, to use a minimum hourly wage as a starting point for the level of the various minimum wages instead of a monthly minimum wage. As this is based on the then applicable minimum hourly wage for a 36-hour week, this will mean an additional increase in the minimum wage for employees working more than 36 hours a week.
Minimum wage
As of 1 January 2023, the statutory gross minimum wage for employees 21 years and older that work full-time will be:
€
1,934.40
per month
€
446.40
per week
€
89.28
per day
Please be informed that the law regarding gross minimum wage is statutory law. Therefore, the gross statutory minimum wage also applies to employment contracts with foreign employees that habitually perform their work in The Netherlands, even in case a choice of law has been made in the employment contract.
Statutory youth minimum wage
Age
Percentage
Per month
Per week
Per day
20 years
80%
€ 1,547.50
€ 357.10
€ 71.42
19 years
60%
€ 1,160.65
€ 267.85
€ 53.57
18 years
50%
€ 967.20
€ 223.20
€ 44.64
17 years
39,5%
€ 764.10
€ 176.35
€ 35.27
16 years
34,5%
€ 667.35
€ 154.00
€ 30.80
15 years
30%
€ 580.30
€ 133.90
€ 26.78
Part-time
When the working time is shorter than the customary working time, the statutory (youth) minimum wage will be in proportion to the hours worked.
Hourly wage
The hourly wage may vary across the sectors, depending on the number of hours that is agreed upon as the customary working time. The customary working time is defined as the working time which has been agreed upon for full-time employment in a certain sector. In most collective labour agreements the working time of full-time employment is 36, 38 or 40 hours per week.
Age
Percentage
40 hours
38 hours
36 hours
21 years and older
100%
€ 11.16
€ 11.75
€ 12.40
20 years
80%
€ 8.93
€ 9.40
€ 9.92
19 years
60%
€ 6.70
€ 7.05
€ 7.45
18 years
50%
€ 5.58
€ 5.88
€ 6.20
17 years
39,5%
€ 4.41
€ 4.65
€ 4.90
16 years
34,5%
€ 3.85
€ 4.06
€ 4.28
15 years
30%
€ 3.35
€ 3.53
€ 3.72
About the author:
Jan Dop
Jan Dop is Head of Russell Advocaten’s Embassy Desk, that serves Embassies, Consulates, diplomats and expats. He has been a lawyer at Russell since 1995, and became a partner in 2011.
