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Dick Schoof — news, coverage & facts — IJR

National security career

Schoof served as director-general at the Ministry of Justice and Security from 2010 to 2013.

In 2013 Schoof was appointed National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV). He allowed his employees to monitor potential terrorists on social media through fake profiles despite warnings from his attorneys. Following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014 after it left Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, he coordinated the Dutch crisis response, strengthening his relationship with Prime Minister Mark Rutte. In 2022, a court in the Netherlands convicted three men linked to the Russian military of murder in connection with the plane's destruction, which killed all passengers on board, including 196 Dutch citizens. When Schoof requested an independent investigation by Twente University into the performance of his office, he and his employees interfered with the questions, the composition of the committee and the publication date. He exerted pressure to soften its main conclusion. For example, the word "badly" was changed to "not well". Schoof was also responsible for internal security, addressing both Islamist radicalisation and the recruitment of ISIS fighters in the Netherlands.

Under Schoof's leadership, the NCTV was accused by civil rights group Bits of Freedom of carrying out illegal surveillance of Dutch citizens, especially Muslims, on the internet. Starting in 2017, the NCTV launched a program of using private investigators to infiltrate mosques and spy on them. In 2019, an investigation by GeenStijl determined that Schoof ordered subordinates to create fake social media profiles to monitor "potential terrorists". He warned the education ministry and the municipality of Amsterdam that supporters of the Salafi movement were on the board of an Islamic school. He was found to have exerted pressure to attenuate the conclusions of the investigations.

Schoof led the General Intelligence and Security Service as director-general from 2018 to 2020. De Volkskrant wrote that his relatively short tenure was characterized by a culture clash. Schoof unsuccessfully tried to make the agency more outward facing, including through cooperation with institutions and universities.

On 1 March 2020, Schoof succeeded Siebe Riedstra as secretary-general of the Ministry of Justice and Security, the most senior non-political position within the ministry. In his role, he was involved in negotiations on asylum reform that led to the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet in July 2023. Upon reaching the legal retirement age in March 2024, Schoof chose not to retire and was granted an exemption to continue working for three more years.

Prime minister (2024–2026)

The Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders won a plurality in the November 2023 general election. On 16 May 2024, the PVV presented a right-wing coalition agreement with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), New Social Contract (NSC), and the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB). As part of the negotiations, the four party leaders agreed none of them would serve as prime minister. The PVV had initially proposed Ronald Plasterk for the position, but he withdrew from consideration due to accusations of fraud. Schoof was subsequently nominated for the office of prime minister on 28 May 2024 by the coalition parties under formateur Richard van Zwol. He was sworn in on 2 July by King Willem-Alexander as part of the Schoof cabinet, and he became the first independent politician to serve as prime minister since Cort van der Linden (1913–1918). Dutch news weekly Elsevier Weekblad opined: "The top official knows all the nooks and crannies of The Hague and is an expert in the field of immigration and security. He believes in a healthy relationship between civil service and politics," while at all times respecting that politicians had the last say.

A debate two days later in the House of Representatives about the cabinet's government policy statement was characterized by some media outlets as chaotic. Schoof's defence against accusations of racism directed at cabinet members was described as "lame" by PVV leader Geert Wilders, and the debate was later suspended to allow Schoof to rebuke health minister Fleur Agema (PVV) for disrupting the debate through a live-tweet.

Schoof presented the cabinet's governing agreement on 13 September 2024, expanding on the outline of the coalition agreement. It reiterated the cabinet's intention to declare an asylum crisis, bypassing initial parliamentary approval. Schoof stated that citizens were experiencing an asylum crisis but said he was unable to specify conditions or a timeline for its resolution. When documents by civil servants took the position that using emergency powers lacked legal justification, Nicolien van Vroonhoven (NSC) raised concerns, while Wilders warned that the cabinet could face trouble if an emergency law was not enacted. Schoof subsequently facilitated negotiations between the coalition parties, and an agreement on asylum measures was reached in October 2024 that excluded the use of emergency powers.

In the wake of the November 2024 Amsterdam riots, Schoof said that he was "ashamed" and "horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens." He called the situation "completely unacceptable", adding that "the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted." He blamed a specific group of young people with a migration background for the attacks, and said that the events pointed to a broader integration issue. Schoof cancelled his attendance of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference to monitor the Dutch government's response. On 15 November, State Secretary Nora Achahbar announced her resignation because of "polarizing interactions during the past weeks." Media outlets reported on offensive, radical, and potentially racist remarks about the Amsterdam attacks during a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Schoof invited the leaders of the four coalition parties to join the cabinet for crisis talks to avert a cabinet collapse, and they finally agreed that other cabinet members of NSC would stay on. Schoof denied allegations of racism within the cabinet and coalition parties.

Agriculture minister Femke Wiersma was tasked with drawing up measures to protect sensitive nature reserves in response to the nitrogen crisis, when the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State ruled in December 2024 that unused nitrogen emission rights could no longer be allocated to other construction and expansion projects. Instead, a new permit would be required. Schoof subsequently established a committee comprising several cabinet members to explore measures to prevent widespread project delays.

On 3 June 2025, the PVV withdrew from Schoof's cabinet after failing to come to an agreement with coalition partners over amending the country's asylum rules, prompting Schoof's resignation as prime minister. Schoof promised to continue policy measures such as reducing the cost of living, curbing the housing crisis, investing in the Netherlands' defense, and military aid to Ukraine.