International

By joining a European defense treaty, the House of
Representatives threatens to lose control over arms exports. A bad
thing, argues Sarah Dobbe, MP for the Socialist Party.

Today is exactly 2 years after Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine. Every
day hundreds of Ukrainians die in the trenches. And Putin continues to
send working class people to the front, like cannon fodder. Thousands of civilian casualties have now fallen and millions are on the run in this illegal war of Russia. And an end to the war is not yet in sight.

A proposal by the SP to investigate whether the frozen Russian billions on Western bank accounts could be used as a means of pressure against the Russian regime was adopted today by a large majority of the House of Representatives. The proposal hits the
Russian elite where it hurts: in their wallet and the money can be used to support Ukrainian reconstruction. Russia must be pressured to stop the aggression and work on peace.

The violence in Gaza must stop. We cannot accept more and more innocent victims and the fact that aid is hardly allowed. The Dutch government must speak out in no uncertain terms: a ceasefire is needed immediately.

The SP proposes a law to raise the minimum wage substantially. Under the SP's law, the minimum wage will go up immediately to 16 euros and will continue to rise thereafter. The coupled benefits will rise, too. Surrounded by 500 new SP members, which joined together to portray the number 16, SP leader Lilian Marijnissen launched the new law.

At the suggestion of the SP, the Netherlands will now take the initiative to work internationally on a global billionaire tax.

After the horrible acts of Hamas, we now see the Israeli army carrying out a massacre in Gaza. This violence needs to stop as soon as possible. A structural solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict must be worked on. Such a process includes recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

Israel's government must stop the blockade of Gaza so that basic necessities such as water and food are allowed back in. An SP motion to that effect was adopted in the Lower House today.

The Dutch First Chamber (also called the Senate or Upper House) voted in favour of the binding corrective referendum. The SP proposal won the required two-thirds majority in the Senate. An important step to give people more say.