New Year's gathering 2026

Dear Sirs and Madams,

Good evening! How wonderful that so many of you, with a little help from the weather gods, have come to our beautiful St. Catherine's Church for our New Year's gathering of 2026. On behalf of the municipal council of Voorne aan Zee , I Voorne aan Zee also Voorne aan Zee welcome you very warmly this evening! And thanks to the church's invaluable vergers, it has also been a very warm welcome in the literal sense. Many thanks for that. 

In my opinion, New Year's gatherings are a very valuable tradition. A tradition that we will start by briefly looking back on. What did the past year bring us? The film we just saw provided an excellent illustration of this. We reflected on 80 years of freedom and 80 years of liberation, with wonderful liberation festivals and solemn commemorations. We honored our veterans and enjoyed a seemingly endless series of events under the glorious summer sun. In Voorne aan Zee never a question of whether there's something to do this weekend, but rather which of the many great events to choose from. We also welcomed the King's Commissioner for his first official visit to our municipality, celebrated the beginning of our freedom on April 1, and increasingly showed what we have to offer outside the municipal boundaries. 

In other words, there is much to be proud of in Voorne aan Zee. However, 2025 was also a year with its downsides. We had to say goodbye to many loved ones, sometimes in a very sad and intense way, and unfortunately, we also had to deal with attacks involving explosives for the first time. This confronted us with the relativity of our own safety. In Voorne aan Zee, but also in the world around us. I discussed this at length in my New Year's speech last year. With the resilience, community spirit, and down-to-earth attitude that characterize our island, I am convinced that we will keep a cool head when things get tense. Keep calm and carry on. That, too, is Voorne aan Zee.

However, what I find most appealing about the New Year tradition is the opportunity to reflect together on the year ahead. Of course, every day is a good day to do things differently, but in practice, the turn of the year proves to be an excellent incentive for many people. For a change, I'm not going to talk about resilience and the threats in the world around us today. If the Sinterklaasjournaal has already discussed emergency kits, I have nothing to add. 

Closer to home, I am looking forward to the first regular municipal elections in Voorne aan Zee March 18. Our local democracy is alive and kicking. But as interesting as this topic may be, our local politicians will undoubtedly immerse you in it more than enough in the coming months, so I will not go into any further detail here, except of course to urge you to vote.

But I would like to say this: cherish all those party leaders and aspiring council members. In the coming years, they will often be working day and night for you: our residents, our entrepreneurs, our associations. Whether you agree with their views or not, they deserve our utmost respect and appreciation. And that brings me to an interesting development. Because we seem to be becoming less and less able to deal with people who have different opinions. And that is worrying.

Because, in my view, the well-being of our democratic constitutional state does not depend solely on well-organized, free elections and flawlessly functioning institutions. A thriving democracy perhaps benefits most from open, lively debate. Politicians and citizens who can disagree with each other wholeheartedly and passionately. Who have completely different points of view. And at the same time are curious about each other and the background of those points of view, which they sometimes find incomprehensible. A democracy where people are able to separate those views, which some may find controversial, from the person themselves. The biographer of the 18th-century French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, aptly expressed his view on this subject: "I detest your opinion, but I will defend your right to hold it with my life." In other words, do we still grant each other the right to a different opinion and, perhaps even more importantly, are we still willing to have a beer with someone who thinks very differently?

We find that increasingly difficult. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Netherlands has become increasingly compartmentalized. The church, the trade union, the political party, the broadcaster, or the newspaper largely determined what you should think, who you should vote for, and who was suitable marriage material. After decades of effort, society has succeeded in breaking free from these pillars. Finally, we as individuals were able to make our own choices in life. But in practice, this has proven difficult. Apparently, as humans, we need others to guide us in forming our opinions and viewpoints. Because instead of pillars that determine our lives, we now seek refuge in bubbles. Bubbles in physical and digital society, where we surround ourselves with people who share the same opinions. Here, we are safely confirmed in our own judgments and our own righteousness. Instead of the minister or the priest, it is now an influencer, a columnist, or an elusive algorithm that dictates our worldview. And opinions outside our bubble? They are wrong. These bubbles, ladies and gentlemen, have become the new pillars.

Don't get me wrong: the widespread availability of information is a great asset and offers almost unlimited possibilities. But a society filled with bubbles of people who not only have no interest in each other, but sometimes even despise each other because they have different opinions, does not make for a more pleasant place to live. Nor does it make for a more democratic one. And so we have to get to work. We have to become curious again about people with different opinions. We have to step outside the comfort of our own bubbles and seek out people who think very differently. And above all, we have to remain open to the possibility that these people might actually be very nice!

And it is possible. In the United States, where the dividing line between the Democratic and Republican bubbles is increasingly beginning to run through society like an invisible iron curtain, Democratic and Republican politicians have started the series "Disagree better" on Instagram. In an often light-hearted way and with the necessary humor, these politicians point out where they differ, sometimes significantly, in their opinions. But they also show that they get along well with each other. I think this is a wonderful initiative for two reasons. First, because in a time of enormous polarization, these politicians are bravely making it clear that there is another way. And second, because they convey that, despite their completely different worldviews, they still appreciate each other on a personal level. And we can do that too. In fact, we are often already on the same side. You can vote for a different political party, but cheer for Feyenoord together. And you can have very different views on the usefulness of vaccinations, but at the same time vote for the same songs in the Top 2000. 

So let's stop calling each other wackos, do-gooders, witches, conspiracy theorists, or weirdos in 2026. Instead, let's eat, drink, enjoy music, and cheer our favorite athletes on to Olympic gold together. We don't have to agree, but being a little more open to each other will make our lives and our country a lot more enjoyable.

I wish you all a healthy and happy 2026, a year in which we will not have bubbles in society, but rather in our glasses!

Thank you.