The cabinet will attend the World Cup in Qatar with a government delegation. It cannot be ruled out that King Willem-Alexander will also leave at some point.

“The cabinet intends to send a government delegation to encourage the Dutch national team, as is usual at major sporting events,” Minister Hoekstra wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives. “The Cabinet has chosen to work with Qatar to bring about lasting change.”

This is against the will of the House of Representatives. With the support of the governing parties D66 and ChristenUnie, he passed a motion last year that stipulates that no government representative may go to the World Cup: no king, no prime minister and no minister.

Hoekstra says the cabinet “considered this request” and consulted with international partners and human rights organizations before deciding to go anyway. Hoekstra says the human rights situation is also being discussed with Qatar, and that has already improved in many respects.

energy crisis

Before the weekend it became clear that the cabinet was ignoring the wishes of the House of Representatives. Foreign Affairs’ Hoekstra said at the time that the oil state of Qatar was too important an interlocutor in the current energy crisis to stay away.

The delegation is sensitive about human rights. Since Qatar was awarded the 2010 World Cup, migrant workers have been exploited to build stadiums, roads and hotels. Countless deaths have occurred as a result.