The relationship between the Netherlands and the International Criminal Court in The Hague has cooled, Trouw reports on Thursday.

The paper says the ICC’s rent-free accommodation contract with the Dutch government is due to expire in July 2012 and the Netherlands is sticking to the deadline.
‘We had expected a little more flexibility with the host country about continuing to pay the rent,’ Marc Dubuisson, one of the court’s directors, is quoted as saying. ‘They are being really Dutch.’
10 years
The Netherlands agreed to pay the rent on the court’s offices for a 10-year period after its foundation. From that date, the court’s founding partners are supposed to share the cost.
The ICC is currently housed in a building formerly used by telecoms group KPN. The building now too small but a new court complex, close to the high security Scheveningen prison, will not be completed until 2015.
The paper says the accommodation issue is on the agenda for a meeting of founders in December, and if the budget is not increased from the current €104m, large savings will be necessary.
Visas
The Netherlands has also become more difficult about granting visas for some witnesses, Dubuisson told Trouw.
This particularly affects people who have to leave their home country immediately because they and their families would be in danger.