What to know about Rob Jetten – the youngest ever prime minister of The Netherlands

The Netherlands is poised to inaugurate a new minority coalition government today, with King Willem-Alexander swearing in Rob Jetten, who, at 38, becomes the nation's youngest prime minister.

Mr Jetten faces an immediate test of his bridge-building abilities to navigate a full four-year term.

His three-party administration, formed by his centrist D66, the centre-right Christian Democrats, and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, holds just 66 of the 150 seats in the lower house. This necessitates constant negotiation with opposition lawmakers to pass any legislation.

This challenge is amplified by the largest opposition bloc, the newly merged Green Left and Labour Party, which has already expressed strong objections to Mr Jetten's proposed cuts to healthcare and welfare costs.

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Opposition leader Jesse Klaver said Friday in a message on X that under the new government's plans, “ordinary people will have to pay hundreds of euros more, while the wealthiest are not asked to contribute anything extra." He added: "We are taking responsibility to adjust these plans. This must change.”

Jetten and his team of ministers will formally accept their new roles when they are sworn in by the king at his palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague. They will then pose for a traditional photo of the new Cabinet on the steps of the palace before getting down to work with their first Cabinet meeting in the afternoon.

Jetten narrowly won an Oct. 29 election, taking the same number of seats as anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom, but with slightly more votes. The final result was decided by a count of postal ballots.

The snap election was forced when Wilders, who won the previous election, withdrew his ministers from the four-party right-wing coalition his party led in June last year. Outgoing premier Dick Schoof, whose 11-month-old administration was one of the shortest-lived governments in Dutch political history, has been caretaker leader ever since.

Jetten wants to usher in a new era of consensus in the Dutch parliament, after years of factional bickering across the splintered political spectrum.

He is also looking for a reset of the Netherlands influential role in the European Union, which was widely seen as having eroded under the previous government.

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Jetten, who has in the past voiced criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump, told The Associated Press last month that one of the first things he will do after taking office is “talk to my colleagues in Europe to see what role the Dutch can play again in strengthening the European cooperation.”

But he also underscored the importance of ties with the United States, a major trading partner for the Dutch economy.

Jetten has pledged to maintain strong Dutch support for Ukraine as it battles against Russia's four-year-old invasion.

The ministers' posts in the new Cabinet are shared between Jetten's party and his coalition partners.

The new foreign minister is Christian Democrat Tom Berendsen. He is expected to seek to rejuvenate the Netherlands' position in Europe having previously served as the leader of his party's bloc in the European Parliament.

One name that is not changing is the finance minister — Eelco Heinen retains the job he held in the previous administration, where he was seen as a steady hand on the government's purse strings.

Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, a former justice minister and leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, moves to the defense ministry where she will oversee moves to beef up the nation's military.

Bart van den Brink, a Christian Democrat, has been tapped to be minister for asylum and immigration policy and is expected to continue moves by the previous government to rein in migration and speed up procedures for handling asylum applications.