“International residents of The Hague, use your right to influence the decisions being made for our city, vote on 3 March.”

The VVD Alderman of City Marketing, Fritz Huffnagel, talks about his successes and challenges over the last four years and the upcoming March 3 election.

Has the problem of Expats not feeling welcome in the city been solved?

I think for the largest part, yes, five or six years ago, the city was judged very badly for how it welcomed Expats. A survey said that over fifty percent wanted to get out of The Hague because they did not feel welcome. This made us think very hard and we started the hospitality centre at the City Hall and we also started a welcome to The Hague programme.

Then the momentum was started and different initiatives kicked off such as supporting The Hague Guest Card and The Expat Fairs. And now, we invite newcomers to the city to the Welcome to The Hague morning at City Hall, this takes place every six weeks. I am happy to see that the latest report from last year show that these initiatives are really working.

When you think about it, The Hague has such a lot going for it. It has great beaches and parks, English is widely spoken and it is clean and safe. But is everything solved now?

No, there is still work to do.
One example is our health care system needs more clarification for Expats. Many come from a country where the health care system is quite different than here. In the Netherlands, people first need to visit a family doctor before they can visit a hospital. This is hard for a lot of newcomers.

I believe this is partly because the system needs to be explained better. But we are getting better, now have hospitals such as Bronovo that specialise in Expat healthcare. We are doing better, but it still needs work.

What advice would you give the voters on which parties to vote for?

Hahah!! That is easy, my party, the VVD of course. But the most important thing an Expat can do, is vote. If you want to be apart of our community and want to influence what is going on, then you should vote.

I have always said, The Hague is Holland’s most international city. If you hear someone speaking English, French, Spanish or German in Amsterdam, it is a fairly safe to assume that that person is a visitor to the city. But if you hear another language spoken in The Hague, It is also a safe assumption that that person is living and working here.
International people do have a voice. Expats, who have lived here for more than five years, or those who come from EU countries, have the democratic the right to influence what is going on in the city.

How will the newcomers such as the Islamic party and the PVV affect The Hague’s political environment?

Well, the Islamic party have one seat, but according to the polls (at the time of this interview (mid-February)) they look like they will lose that seat.

The PVV is expected to win more seats and according to the polls, will enter the municipal council. But I also get the idea that they are not that interested in joining local government. They are more interested in making a lot of noise from the sidelines.

We also have stop Wilders now and Trots Op Nederland?

Yes but I don’t think they will be represented after the elections.

A lot of Expats are sick and tired of being thought of only as a dollar sign. What advise do you give parties who say Expats are important because they bring work, profit and status to The Hague but don’t mention anything else?

For a lot of parties, it would be ridiculous to try and get the Expat vote now because they haven’t done anything for Expats and have never shown any interest in Expats before.
On the other hand, there are a lot of Expats who do like to join the events happening in the city and get involved. There is little difference between them and someone who is born and raised here. People want the city to be safe, clean, with good schools and health care. Now don’t most people want that?

What are your dreams for the city over the next five years?

I hope that we continue to grow as a city. Especially attracting those of the middle-class. We need this because otherwise it is impossible to keep up the level of culture and infrastructure in the city. We need the right mix of incomes.

Also, I see with many of the more left parties. They are too focussed on low-income segments of the population and building houses for them. There is little left for those on higher incomes with children, so they move outside of The Hague.

It is my dream to keep the middle-income earners here and attract higher wage earners to our city. But that is a big challenge if there are a lot of leftwing parties.

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