The Christian Democrat politician René van der Linden has been named as the new chairman of the upper parliamentary chamber (senate), reports the Nos website on Friday.

He succeeds another CDA politician, Yvonne Timmerman-Buck, who is moving to the Council of State which advises the government on legislation and is the country’s highest administrative court.
Van der Linden (65) has been a senator for over 10 years and has a long political career. He has served as an MP and was junior minister for foreign affairs in the 1980s as well as holding various positions in European institutions. He was chairman of the Council of Europe from 2005 to 2008.