Explosion occurs in office of Dutch Prime Minister's party with 30 people inside

On the evening of May 7, an explosion occurred at the office of Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten’s D66 party in The Hague. At the time, there were about 30 people inside.

It was reported by NOS.

The incident occurred around 9:00 p.m. near the D66 party office in The Hague — a pyrotechnic device exploded. An hour later, police reported that a suspect had been detained.

A party spokesperson stated that a firework or firecracker had been thrown into the mailbox.

"There were people in the building, but no one was injured. They were, however, very frightened," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, D66 party leader and Prime Minister Jetten called it a “cowardly act of intimidation.”

"For anyone who thinks they can instill fear, I have a message: in democratic Netherlands, we will never be silenced by violence," he wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, police have cordoned off the building and reported minor damage.

At the time of the attack, there were about thirty people inside the building. An evening of speeches by the "Young Democrats" was underway there. The head of the party’s youth wing, Rachelle Smook, said that those present were very frightened and that the explosion was “surprisingly loud.”

According to Smook, the glass at the top of the door shattered, leaving the area littered with shards. There was also a lot of smoke inside the building.

“Since the demonstrations in September, an evacuation route has been set up there. Board members were able to lead everyone outside into the garden,” she added.

In September, hooligans smashed the windows of that same office. This happened after an anti-immigration demonstration on Malvelde that got out of control. Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators that day; bottles and rocks were thrown at the police. Thirty participants in the riots have been convicted so far, including for smashing windows at the D66 party office.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in March, Rob Jetten, the new and youngest head of the Dutch government in history, arrived in the Ukrainian capital. This was the politician’s first official visit to Ukraine following his appointment as prime minister a few weeks earlier.

In April, Ukraine and the Netherlands agreed to begin work on the Drone Deal and the joint production of drones.