Free Republic

The Netherlands are set to return a collection of valuable paintings to the family of a Jewish art collector who died during the Holocaust. The collection, which includes works by Dutch masters Van Ruysdael, Van Goyen and Van Dyck, belonged to Jacques Goudstikker who fled the Netherlands just before the German invasion in May 1940 leaving behind over 1,200 masterpieces which formed a remarkable collection. The paintings are said to be worth millions of euros. They were seized by the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands during the war. Decades-long battle Goudstikker, who was refused entry into England, died...

DUTCH Foreign Minister Bernard Bot today questioned for the first time whether US-led troops should have invaded Iraq and said diplomacy might have achieved more. The Netherlands backed the US-led invasion of Iraq, but today Mr Bot was asked in parliament if the invasion was sensible. "That is a question you can legitimately ask, looking back, and it's possible that the answer will be that it wasn't sensible and that using diplomatic means we could have achieved more," Mr Bot said. Mr Bot later extended his remarks, telling Dutch television network NOS that he had been referring to the absence...