This article lists major events that happened in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch 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 authority ...

Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatri ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

: Mark Rutte (

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

) * Speaker of the House of Representatives: Khadija Arib ( 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 in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

: Ankie Broekers-Knol (

)

Events

*6 February –

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

takes over as coach of the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal 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 Du ...

*12 February – opening of Waddinxveen Triangel railway station *13 February – Halbe Zijlstra (

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

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

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 15 member-states of the council monthly. The head of the country's delegation is known as the President of t ...

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 (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" 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 (Old Rhine), where the r ...

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

2018 Dutch municipal elections The Dutch municipal elections of 2018 were held on 21 March in 335 municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determined the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years. The election coincided with the Intelligence an ...

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 Refe ...

*22 March – a man attempts suicide by jumping off the public gallery of the House of Representatives *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 (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

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 wer ...

*17 June – at the

Pinkpop Festival The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at 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. ...

in Landgraaf, 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 ( CU) is appointed to be the King's Commissioner of

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...

*12 July –

Femke Halsema Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker. On 27 June 2018, she was appointed Mayor of Amsterdam and began serving a six-year term on 12 July 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim basi ...

( GL) takes over as Mayor of Amsterdam *21 July – opening of the North–South Line (Route 52) of the

Amsterdam Metro The Amsterdam Metro ( nl, Amsterdamse metro) is a rapid transit system serving Amsterdam, Netherlands, and extending to the surrounding municipalities of Diemen and Ouder-Amstel. Until 2019 it also served the municipality of Amstelveen but this ...

*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 Americans, American tourists. The attacker was shot and injured by the police. Amsterda ...

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

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

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 linesman at a youth football match in Almere in which his youngest son was playing for the home team. The attack ...

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 of Democrats 66 (D66). He served as the party's parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. Early life and education Jetten grew up in Uden, Noord-Brabant and ...

becomes leader of the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

in the House of Representatives * 14 October – Mayor Jos Wienen (

) 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 politician serving as the Netherlands' Minister of Defence since 10 January 2022. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66), she previously served as Minister of the Interior and Ki ...

, 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 and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...

wins '' DJ Mags Top 100 first place for the third time * 1 November – Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert is appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq;

Thom de Graaf Thomas Carolus "Thom" de Graaf (;''Thomas'' in isolation: . 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 since 1 November 2018. De Graaf attended the Ci ...

becomes

Vice-President of the Council of State The vice-president of the Council of State ( nl, Vice-President van de Raad van State) is the ''de facto'' presiding officer of the Council of State. The monarch serves as the ''ex officio'' president of the Council of State but in reality seldo ...

* 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 official c ...

Dick Schoof Hendrikus Wilhelmus Maria "Dick" Schoof is a Dutch civil servant. Currently in function of secretary-general at the Ministry of Justice and Security, per 1 March 2020. Career Schoof was born in the Dutch village of Santpoort. He studied urban a ...

is appointed as new Director of the

General Intelligence and Security Service The General Intelligence and Security Service ( nl, Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD; ) is the intelligence and security agency of the Netherlands, tasked with domestic, foreign and signals intelligence and protecting national se ...

(AIVD) * 9 December – opening of

Lansingerland-Zoetermeer railway station Lansingerland-Zoetermeer railway station is a railway station on the borders of Bleiswijk and Zoetermeer, Netherlands. It was previously known under its conceptual name BleiZo. The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. History The ...

Deaths

*2 January –

Eugène Gerards Eugène 'Gène' Gerards (7 May 1940 − 2 January 2018) was a Dutch football player, manager and scout. As a player, Gerards played for Limburgian clubs SV Limburgia and Fortuna '54. As a manager, he spent the majority of his career in Greece, ...

, 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), Eschborn- ...

, 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, alongside Hadriaan van Nes and Herman Suselbeek ...

, rower (b. 1941) *19 January –

Dik Abed Sulaiman "Dik" Abed (22 October 1944 – 19 January 2018) was a cricketer. Born in South Africa, he played professionally in England and later captained the Netherlands. Life and career Abed was born to a Cape Malay family in District Six, Cape ...

, cricketer (b. 1944) *20 January –

Antonius Jan Glazemaker Antonius Jan Glazemaker (19 April 1931 – 20 January 2018) served as the twenty-first Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, from 1982 to 2000. Born on April 19, 1931 to Old Catholic parents, Glazemaker was raised in the Netherlands during a peri ...

, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1931) *22 January – Reinier Kreijermaat, 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 t ...

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

Hennie Hollink Hendrikus ("Hennie") Hollink (1 October 1931 in Glanerbrug, Overijssel – 31 January 2018) was a football (soccer) player and manager from the Netherlands, who played for Roda JC, FC Twente and Heracles Almelo. He played professional football him ...

, 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 Lux ...

, racing cyclist (b. 1934) Ruud Lubbers 2016

*14 February – Ruud Lubbers, 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 (Catholi ...

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

*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 Jan Cornelis Snoeck (5 March 1927 – 31 March 2018) was a Dutch sculptor and ceramist.Biographical data
at the Netherl ...

, sculptor and ceramist (b. 1927) *23 April – Henk Temming, footballer (b. 1923) *2 May – Herman Krebbers, violinist (b. 1923) Renate dorrestein-1505575783

*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) Mien Schopman-Klaver, januari 2016

*10 July – Mien Schopman-Klaver, athlete (b. 1911) *4 October –

Bert Romp Berend "Bert" Romp (4 November 1958 – 4 October 2018) was a Dutch equestrian and Olympic champion in the sport. He won a gold medal in show jumping with the Dutch team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a cit ...

, Olympic equestrian, gold medalist (b. 1958).Voormalig springruiter Bert Romp overleden na trap van paard
*20 October –

Wim Kok Willem "Wim" 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