By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – Frits Bolkestein, one of the most influential Dutch conservative-liberal politicians who was among the first to publicly challenge immigration policies in the Netherlands, has died at the age of 91.
The former Dutch minister and European commissioner of the European Union, who voted for the left-leaning Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) or Labour Party in his younger days, worked for oil giant Shell before moving on to become a legislator of the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) in 1977.
He was junior economic affairs minister in Ruud Lubbers’ first cabinet and defense minister in the second after a cabinet reshuffle.
In 1990, he became VVD leader and was instrumental in forming the first cabinet led by the PvdA’s Wim Kok, although he opted to remain in parliament.
From 1999 to 2004, he was the European commissioner for the internal market and taxation.
Bolkestein’s career was not without controversies. In 2010, he called for the legalization of all drugs in an article in the Dutch NRC daily entitled “Save the nation, allow drugs,” a stance he reiterated in 2020.
Also, that year, he suggested that orthodox Jews should leave the Netherlands because of rising anti-semitism in the first of many outspoken comments he made on immigration.
He was also criticized for his financial support for Soumaya Sahla, a convicted terrorist who later became an academic and adviser on deradicalization.
The author of many books, his most recent “Bij het scheiden van de markt” about politics and society, was published in 2019.
Bolkestein passed away in Laren in the Rosa Spier Huis care home, where he had lived for several years, officials said.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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