Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Ruud Lubbers, chose euthanasia at the end of his life. "It is an injection that puts an end to the suffering and pain of a person after his consent." This can be read in the biography "Rud Lubbers, a little different" written by Lennart Steenbergen, which will be published next Wednesday, according to the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation NOS. According to what was reported by newspapers in the neighboring country Belgium from the Belgian News Agency this Monday morning, Lubbers, as leader of the Christian Democrats, who strongly opposed moral issues such as abortion and euthanasia, laid the foundation for the legalization of euthanasia in his third government. Under Lubbers' leadership, the policy of tolerance for euthanasia was finally established in the Netherlands.
Lubbers, born in 1939, who died in 2018, headed three governments as leader of the Christian Democratic Party between 1982 and 1994. Previously, he was Minister of Economic Affairs, a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee. Lubbers was, after Mark Rutte, the longest-serving prime minister of the Netherlands. After his career in The Hague, he also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees between 2001 and 2005. He was forced to resign from that post after allegations of improper conduct were made against him. In June this year, Lubbers' widow, Rhea, died. They had been married in 1962.