Dutch finance minister’s skating tweet lands him on thin ice

The Hague (Netherlands), February 19

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The Dutch finance minister was on thin ice Friday for taking to a speed skating oval with one of the Netherlands’ greatest Olympians.

Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra faced criticism Friday for breaching the country’s tough coronavirus lockdown after posting a photo of himself on Twitter skating alongside Sven Kramer, the winner of four Winter Olympics gold medals in speed skating.

“Sport is incredibly nice and also healthy,” Hoekstra tweeted.

Sporten is ontzettend leuk en daarnaast heel gezond. Juist in deze tijd is het belangrijk dat we voldoende blijven bewegen.

Samen met @SvenKramer86 schaatste ik in het mooie #Thialf. #SamenSterkerDoorSport #CDA

🗞️https://t.co/NctKE4kh6I pic.twitter.com/TBPNHQrewO

— Wopke Hoekstra (@WBHoekstra) February 18, 2021

It is also currently banned at indoor venues such as the Thialf oval where Hoekstra skated.

“Indoor sports venues are shut, so this was not allowed,” Minister for Medical Care and Sport Tamara van Ark told reporters in The Hague.

Hoekstra quickly admitted he’d made a mistake.

“I should have kept my sneakers on and not donned my skates,” he said. —AP