This article lists major events that happened in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

(

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and ...

) * Speaker of the House of Representatives:

Khadija Arib Khadija Arib (; ; born 10 October 1960) is a Moroccans in the Netherlands, Moroccan-born Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), Speaker of the House ...

( PvdA) *

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

Ankie Broekers-Knol Anneke "Ankie" Broekers-Knol (born 23 November 1946) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as State Secretary for Justice and Security in the Third Rutte cabinet from 11 June 2019 until 10 January 2022. She is a member of the People's Par ...

(

)

Events

*6 February –

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

takes over as coach of the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

*12 February – opening of

Waddinxveen Triangel railway station Waddinxveen Triangel railway station is a railway station in Waddinxveen, South Holland, Netherlands that opened on 12 February 2018.

*13 February –

Halbe Zijlstra Halbe Zijlstra (; born 21 January 1969) is a retired Dutch politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 26 October 2017 to 13 February 2018 in the Third Rutte cabinet. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ...

(

) resigns as Minister of Foreign Affairs *1 March – Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Karel van Oosterom is appointed

President of the United Nations Security Council The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is responsible for leading the United Nations Security Council. It rotates among the fifteen member-states of the council monthly. The head of the country's delegation is known as the president ...

for one month *6 March – a mentally disturbed man armed with two knives tries to enter a school in

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn (Old Rhine ...

; a group of students chases him off by throwing bags at him before his arrest by police officers *21 March –

2018 Dutch municipal elections Municipal elections were held on 21 March 2018 in 335 List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determined the composition of the Municipal council (Netherlands), municipal councils for the followi ...

and

2018 Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum An advisory referendum on the Intelligence and Security Services Act 2017 (, abbreviated 'Wiv') was held in the Netherlands on 21 March 2018, alongside the municipal elections. It was the second referendum to be held under the Dutch Advisory Re ...

*22 March – a man attempts suicide by jumping off the public gallery of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

*28 March – opening of

Eemshaven railway station Eemshaven railway station is a train station on the Sauwerd–Roodeschool railway, located in the Eemshaven harbour in the province of Groningen, Netherlands. It is the northernmost train station in the country. The station was opened on 28 March ...

*15 April –

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

wins the

2017–18 Eredivisie The 2017–18 Eredivisie was the 62nd season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 11 August 2017 and concluded on 6 May 2018; the Europa League and relegation play-offs took place later that month. Feyenoord we ...

*17 June – at the

Pinkpop Festival Pinkpop is an annual music festival held in Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. Starting in ...

Landgraaf Landgraaf (; ) is a municipality in southeastern Limburg, Netherlands, forming part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. ''SnowWorld'' is the largest indoor ski piste in Europe. Population centres * Nieuwenhagen * Schaesberg * Ubach over W ...

, one falls dead after a van crashed into a crowd; the driver turns himself in to the police the day after *19 June – police forces arrest three men in Rotterdam, Schinnen and Groningen suspected of planning a terrorism act; two other men suspected of planning a terrorist attack had been arrested two days before in Rotterdam in an unrelated case *11 July –

Andries Heidema Andries is a Dutch and Afrikaans masculine given name or surname equivalent to Andrew. Given name People with this name include * Andries van Artvelt (1590–1652), Flemish painter * Andries Beeckman (1628–1664), Dutch painter * Andries Bekk ...

( CU) is appointed to be the

King's Commissioner A King's commissioner (, ''CvdK'') is the head of government and legislature in a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands. When the List of monarchs of the Netherlands, reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's commission ...

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

*12 July –

Femke Halsema Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker serving as Mayor of Amsterdam since 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim basis. She previously was a member of the House of Representatives ...

( GL) takes over as

Mayor of Amsterdam Below is a list of Burgomaster, mayors of Amsterdam (Dutch language, Dutch: ''burgemeesters''), capital of the Netherlands. The city had four burgomasters, serving four years. Since 1389 the mayors were elected on 1 February. In the 17th and 18th ...

*21 July – opening of the North–South Line (Route 52) of the

Amsterdam Metro The Amsterdam Metro () is a rapid transit system serving Amsterdam, Netherlands, and extending to the surrounding List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipalities of Diemen and Ouder-Amstel. Until 2019, it also served the municipality o ...

*31 August –

2018 Amsterdam stabbing attack The 2018 Amsterdam stabbing attack was an attack on 31 August 2018, in Amsterdam Centraal station. A 19-year-old man from Afghanistan stabbed and injured two American tourists. The attacker was shot and injured by the police. Dutch Police conf ...

, the Afghan perpetrator is arrested after wounding two American tourists *13 September – a woman disrupts an event in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

attended by Queen Máxima, yelling about the situation of her handicapped son and holding a letter; she is held away by police officers before the Queen approached her to talk and take the letter * 20 September – a Moroccan man previously convicted in the

death of Richard Nieuwenhuizen Richard Nieuwenhuizen (aged 41) was a Dutch man who was attacked and fatally injured on 2 December 2012 after serving as a volunteer Assistant referee (association football), linesman at a youth Association football, football match in Almere in whi ...

and several other affairs is banned from the Netherlands for a period of 10 years, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) stating that he represented a grave threat to public safety * 9 October –

Rob Jetten Rob Arnoldus Adrianus Jetten (; born 25 March 1987) is a Dutch politician who has been the Leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) party since August 2023 and a member of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives since Decemb ...

becomes leader of the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

in the House of Representatives * 14 October – Mayor

Jos Wienen Jos Wienen (born 3 October 1960 in Ridderkerk) is a Dutch politician. He is mayor of the city of Haarlem. Wienen studied history and theology at Utrecht University. After that he became a staff member of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1986 he be ...

(

) gives a speech from the balcony of the City Hall of Haarlem, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister

Kajsa Ollongren Jkvr. Karin Hildur "Kajsa" Ollongren (; ; born 28 May 1967) is a Dutch-Swedish politician who served as Minister of Defence from 10 January 2022 to 2 July 2024. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66), she previously served as Minister of the Inter ...

, after Wienen received death threats * 17–21 October –

Amsterdam Dance Event The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is a five-day electronic music conference and festival held annually in mid-October. The event, organised by The Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, offers a full programme of daytime conferences at ADE Pro, ADE Tech ...

, Dutch DJ

Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix (or Ytram and GRX), is a Dutch Republic, Dutch DJ and record producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—20 ...

wins ''

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

s Top 100 first place for the third time * 1 November –

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert Jeanine Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert (born 7 April 1973) is a Dutch politician and diplomat who has been serving as United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon since May 2024. She is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( ...

is appointed

Special Representative of the Secretary-General A special representative of the Secretary-General is a highly respected expert who has been appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General, Secretary-General of the United Nations to represent them in meetings with heads of state on critical huma ...

for the

United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) was formed on 14 August 2003 by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1500 at the request of the Iraqi government to support national development efforts. UNAMI's mandate includ ...

;

Thom de Graaf Thomas Carolus de Graaf (; born 11 June 1957) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. He is the Vice-President of the Council of State (Netherlands), Vice-President of the Council of State since 1 November 2018. Early ...

becomes Vice-President of the Council of State * 19 November –

NCTV NCTV may refer to: * National College Television, a campus television network from the 1980s * Niños Cantores Televisión, a Venezuelan regional television channel * Nationaal Coördinator Terrorismebestrijding en Veiligheid, the Dutch off ...

Dick Schoof Hendrikus Wilhelmus Maria "Dick" Schoof (born 8 March 1957) is a Dutch politician and civil servant serving as the prime minister of the Netherlands of the Schoof cabinet since 2 July 2024. Schoof previously worked as secretary-general of the M ...

is appointed as new Director of the

General Intelligence and Security Service The General Intelligence and Security Service ( ; AIVD) is the intelligence and security agency of the Netherlands, tasked with domestic, foreign and signals intelligence and protecting national security as well as assisting the Five Eyes in i ...

(AIVD) * 9 December – opening of Lansingerland-Zoetermeer railway station

Deaths

*2 January –

Eugène Gerards Eugène 'Gène' Gerards (7 May 1940 − 2 January 2018) was a Dutch Association football, football player, manager and scout. As a player, Gerards played for Limburg (Netherlands), Limburgian clubs SV Limburgia and Fortuna '54. As a manager, he ...

, footballer (b. 1940) *12 January –

Eddy Beugels Eddy Beugels (19 March 1944 – 12 January 2018) was a Dutch cyclist who won a silver medal in the team time trial at the 1966 UCI Road World Championships. He also won the Ronde van Noord-Holland (1966), Grand Prix de Wallonie (1968), Eschb ...

, cyclist (b. 1944) *14 January – John Pierik, sports shooter (b. 1949) *15 January –

Roderick Rijnders Roderick "Rody" Falesca Renee Trygvae Rijnders (1 March 1941 – 15 January 2018) was a coxswain from the Netherlands. He won the silver medal in the coxed pairs at the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as t ...

, rower (b. 1941) *19 January – Dik Abed, cricketer (b. 1944) *20 January – Antonius Jan Glazemaker, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1931) *22 January –

Reinier Kreijermaat Reinier Kreijermaat (25 April 1935 – 22 January 2018) was a Dutch footballer who was active as a midfielder in the 1960s. Career Kreijermaat made his professional debut for USV Elinkwijk in 1956. He played for Elinkwijk until 1959, when he mo ...

, footballer (b. 1935) *24 January –

Jan Steeman Jan Steeman (23 May 1933 – 24 January 2018) was a Dutch comics artist, best known for his association football comic '' Roel Dijkstra'' and '' Noortje'', a comic strip about a bumbling teenage girl published in ''Tina''. The latter runs for more ...

, comics artist (b. 1933) *31 January –

Hennie Hollink Hendrikus ("Hennie") Hollink (1 October 1931 – 31 January 2018) was a Dutch association football player and manager who managed Roda JC, FC Twente and Heracles Almelo. A forward, he played professional football himself in the 1950s and 1960s. H ...

, footballer (b. 1931) *12 February –

Martin van der Borgh Martin van der Borgh (28 October 1934 – 12 February 2018) was a Dutch cyclist who was active between 1954 and 1964. He won the Ronde van Limburg (1954), Tour du Nord (1961) and individual stages of the Tour de France (1960) and Tour de Lu ...

, racing cyclist (b. 1934) Ruud Lubbers 2016

*14 February –

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refug ...

, former Prime Minister (b. 1939) *26 February –

Mies Bouwman Maria Antoinette "Mies" Bouwman (31 December 1929 – 26 February 2018) was a Dutch television presenter. Career Born in Amsterdam, she started her career on the very first broadcasting evening of the Dutch broadcasting association KRO (Cathol ...

, television presenter (b. 1929) *21 March – Rolf Leeser, footballer and fashion designer (b. 1929) *22 March –

Johan van Hulst Johan Willem van Hulst (28 January 1911 – 22 March 2018) was a Dutch school director, university professor, author, politician, chess player and centenarian. In 1943, with the help of the Dutch resistance and students of the nearby University ...

, school director, politician (b. 1911) *31 March – Jan Snoeck, sculptor and ceramist (b. 1927) *23 April – Henk Temming, footballer (b. 1923) *2 May – Herman Krebbers, violinist (b. 1923) *4 May –

Renate Dorrestein Renate Maria Dorrestein (25 January 1954 – 4 May 2018) was a Dutch writer, journalist and feminist. She started working as a junior journalist for the Dutch magazines ''Libelle'' and ''Panorama''. During the period 1977 - 1982 she published in ...

, writer (b. 1954) *10 July – Mien Schopman-Klaver, athlete (b. 1911) *4 October – Bert Romp, Olympic equestrian, gold medalist (b. 1958). *20 October –

Wim Kok Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002. 2010s in the Netherlands Years of the 21st century in the Netherlands

Incumbents

Events

See also

Deaths