There are 370 Polish citizens living in Maastricht and not all of them are illegal workers or car thieves as public opinion sometimes portrays them. But how did they end up settling in Maastricht? [continued…]

Wilfried Rütten succeeds Raymonde Griswold as Director of the European Journalism Centre in Maastricht (NL). He takes up the position on March 1st 2006.
The new director is currently head of the School for Digital Television at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences in Austria.
A German national, Mr. Rütten has an extensive track record […]

On 1 July 2005 Leonardus Frissen was appointed as the Queen’s Commissioner for the Province of Limburg.
Governor Frissen is the chairman of the Provincial Council and the Provincial Executive, and in his position he aims to create opportunities for the Province, and of course its capital Maastricht. This ‘Limburger’ was born in Beek in 1950.
Curious […]

“How exactly do these cards work,” a man asks Jessica Brouwer, national event co-ordinator of the language game New Amigos.
Last Tuesday evening, about forty visitors had assembled in the Clinique pub, sitting in small groups around tables ready to learn a board game that has been popular in Norway and Germany for some years. A […]

“Oh no. Minister Verdonk doesn’t allow me to speak English in public anymore,” MP Bert Bakker joked during a parliamentary debate in The Hague on Monday afternoon.
Bakker, a member of the junior government party D66, promised to adhere to the language initiative Verdonk wants to include in a code of conduct to enhance the […]

Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk favours the introduction of a code of conduct for the public to emphasise Dutch identity, including speaking Dutch in the street, non-discrimination and equality between men and women.
Verdonk outlined her ideas to a congress of JOVD, the youth wing of the Liberal Party (VVD) on Saturday.
The leadership […]

The Dutch Cabinet has endorsed a proposal submitted by Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk on the evaluation of the scheme offering rapid admittance procedures for highly skilled migrants.
A customer survey showed that the scheme contributes to the attractiveness of the Netherlands as the place of residence for highly skilled foreign nationals and their […]

The Smoky Boat is a big tourist attraction in Maastricht.
[…]The Smoky Boat shop has remarkably limited fare: no alcohol, just tea, coffee, orange juice, instant soup, toasted sandwiches and … cannabis. Since 1976, a limited number of licensed premises, known euphemistically as coffee shops, have been allowed to sell cannabis in The Netherlands.
This relaxation […]

The Dutch have long been famous for their tolerant attitude to cannabis.
But now they are re-examining their approach, because millions of European “drugs tourists” are heading to the Netherlands to do what they cannot do at home, the BBC’s Mike Donkin reports.
The quaint streets of Maastricht are a top attraction for tourists - […]

As of 1 January 2006, all Dutch municipalities are obliged to hold at least one naturalisation ceremony per year, namely on 24 August, designated as ‘National Naturalisation Day’. If local authorities so wish, they may also organise these special occasions on other days of the year. This is a direct result of amended regulations governing […]