A fight is brewing between MPs and the cabinet over the question of noisy NATO planes flying over Limburg, according to Friday’s Volkskrant.
On Thursday evening a majority of MPs said they will vote to stop the surveillance flights in the near future. Junior defence minister Cees van der Knaap called the decision ‘unacceptable’, the […]

How are we to define a true inhabitant of Maastricht or “Mestreechteneer“? The following poem by the Maastricht poet Bèr Essers (31 August 1926 – 28 October 1995) reveals all:

“De Mestreechteneer“

When God - with quite a joyful cheer
thought out the Mestreechteneer
He said: this will be a work of creation
that will give myself great satisfaction;
I will give him, as my most important gift
a complete understanding of the art to live.

[continued…]

EU citizens in the future should have the right to demand consular protection from embassies other than their own written into their passports, the European Commission has suggested.
In plans unveiled on Wednesday (5 December), Brussels has proposed citizens travelling in countries outside the EU, where their own nation is not represented, should be able to […]

The established parties are actively lobbying to win the important chairmanship of Public Broadcasting (PO). All kinds of names are doing the rounds.
PO is the organisation that steers all public broadcasters. The present chairman, Christian democrat (CDA) Harm Bruins Slot, has indicated he wants to step down mid-2008. It is up to Labour (PvdA) Media […]

European Union citizens need faster and better help if they are in trouble while abroad. Theoretically, EU citizens can knock on the door of any EU embassy in the world, whatever their nationality. However, most people are completely unaware of this fact, which is why the European Commission wants a sticker put into every passport […]

Maastricht city of the Netherlands will host “the 2nd European-Turkish Businessmen Summit” to be organized by Dutch-Turkish Businessmen Association (HOTIAD) between February 9th and 10th, 2008.
High-level officials from Turkey, the Netherlands and some other countries will attend the summit. Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Dutch Premier Jan Peter Balkenende are also expected to participate […]

To foster better understanding and communication between the diverse crowd that makes up European citizens, Brussels has launched a media campaign about its forthcoming “Year of intercultural Dialogue.”
The initiative has a budget of €10 million, plus money from EU capitals, and will be celebrated throughout the whole of 2008.
It includes seven flagship multi-European projects and […]

The mayor of Maastricht, Gerd Leers, has been reported to the criminal investigation department by council member Gerard van Rens, says Tuesday’s Trouw.
Van Rens claims information about his debts were made public by the mayor and that this cost him first the chairmanship of the Christian Democrat party in the city council and later his […]

Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar is “pleased” about the anti-Wilders campaign started by Doekle Terpstra. “I appreciate the initiative very much,” she said yesterday.
Vogelaar supports the “initiative to set up a counter-movement against polarisation and for mutual respect.” The Labour (PvdA) minister did say that she is not in a position to join the movement. She […]

On December 11, 7.30 pm a public debate will take place on the current political and economical developments in Latin America. The debate will be with Reinaldo Figueredo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela and Luc Soete, Director UNU-MERIT.
Venue: the Auditorium Faculty of Economics, Tongersestraat 53, Maastricht.
Free admittance.
Reinaldo Figueredo
Reinaldo Figueredo was […]

The Gemeentemuseum (Municipal Museum) in The Hague denies that it has allowed itself to be influenced by threats from Muslims. It was a voluntary choice to drop a work of art concerning the prophet Mohammed, a spokesman claims.
The museum decided last weekend to withdraw a number of items by the Iranian artist Sooreh Hera from […]

The 8-year-old Maastricht boy found dead in a motorist’s garage in Eijsden on Saturday was killed by a collision. The police announced this on Sunday.
The motorist hit the child on the Ruttensingel in Maastricht on Friday evening and then dragged the child for the 10 km drive to her home in Eisden.
Police have charged […]

Maastricht is undergoing a profound metamorphosis. Local media are full of articles and editorials discussing the image of the city, its identity and its future. Maastricht is no longer a small town in a forgotten corner of the Netherlands, but a beautiful and vibrant provincial capital with international ambitions. [continued…]

The international groups taking the Dutch course at Maastricht University’s Language Centre are “very enthusiastic and motivated,” say their teachers. What drives foreign students to study Dutch at the Language Centre and what challenges do they face? Crossroads’ writer Diana Berdun reports. [continued…]

The 9th edition of Winterland Maastricht will start on the 1st of December 2007. The Vrijthof in Maastricht will change in a wintersquare with a Christmas Market, an ice-rink, a big wheel, christmas-train and a grand carrousel. Of course there is gluhwein (warm red wine) and a lot of other drinks and food.
Winterland Maastricht will […]

The Manus van Alles association will on Sunday 9 December present a Black Gospel concert by Ebby Drenthe and her Gospel Choir We Love God and You (WLGY) in the Onze Lieve Vrouw church in Maastricht’s Wittevrouwenveld district.
Time: from 3 pm till 16.30 pm, free entrance
There will also be a big Christmas Fair […]

US Professor Michael Klare, an expert on Peace and Security Studies and author of the book “Blood and Oil,” recently presented a chilling perspective in Maastricht on the topic of energy in international politics. A review for Crossroads. [continued…]