Who is PM Jetten? how old is he? What were the highlights of his speech at the UNGA 2026?

Who is Rob Jetten

Rob Jetten is a Dutch politician born on 25 March 1987, who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since February 2026. That makes him 39 years old. He is the Netherlands' youngest and first openly gay prime minister, leading a minority government that aims to raise military spending, build new towns and keep limits on immigration. His center-left party, Democrats 66, is governing together with the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the center-right Christian Democratic Alliance. Before becoming prime minister, he served as Minister for Climate and Energy Policy under his predecessor Mark Rutte.

The speech at the 81st UN General Assembly

Jetten addressed the General Debate of the 81st UN General Assembly, the annual gathering where every world leader gets the floor. He opened with a striking image: Anne Frank, he said, was a teenage girl without power or influence, but she had a pen and a diary that would make its way into the world and inspire millions, because she had an unshakeable belief in the power of people to turn the tide so that good prevails. That framing set the tone for everything that followed.

Highlights

Defend the international legal order. Jetten argued that the international legal order is under pressure in more and more places, even though it is the very foundation of our freedom and prosperity, pointing to unending human suffering in Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere, and to violations of international law and human rights that are in stark contrast to the UN's aims, with institutions being undermined.

Hands off the ICC. The sharpest moment in the speech was his defense of the International Criminal Court, the tribunal based in The Hague that tries individuals for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. This came directly in response to President Donald Trump, who had told the same assembly that the ICC is "an evil group of people" and called on member states to resign from it. Jetten responded that "the attempts to undermine the ICC, established in my country, in my city" affect "us all." The full line from the official transcript: "Hands off the ICC, and all those other institutions that protect the international legal order."

Ukraine and accountability. Jetten previously said that all diplomatic resources are being deployed to prevent the court from being hindered in its work. In the speech itself he was explicit that Russia must be held to account, and he referenced the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which the Netherlands has offered to host in The Hague.

A seat for the Global South. Jetten also encouraged mid-sized global powers to take the lead in international cooperation, arguing that countries in Africa, Asia and South America should get a seat at bargaining tables at the UN, saying "Let's start with better African representation on the Security Council."

Climate as a solvable problem. Rather than framing the climate crisis as a catastrophe, Jetten argued it is a problem within reach of being solved. He pointed out that the electric vehicle market grew by 20 percent, wind power capacity by 14 percent and solar power by more than 30 percent in the past year, with growth in renewable energy exceeding the most optimistic projections from a decade ago. He announced that the Netherlands and Colombia jointly organized the world's first conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels, attended by 57 countries representing one-third of global GDP.

AI governance. He raised the question of who gets to shape how artificial intelligence, the technology now reshaping everything from medicine to warfare, is governed. He argued the choice is between letting a small group of companies and countries decide while the rest of the world watches, or deciding together within the UN what the future should look like.

ASML and chip restrictions. Outside the main speech, his speech to world leaders came shortly after an interview in which he pledged to find a solution to export restrictions aimed at microchip machinery manufacturer ASML, headquartered just outside of Eindhoven in Veldhoven. ASML makes the machines that factories use to print the world's most advanced semiconductors. Jetten said he was confident a deal would be reached with the US government over the restrictions, telling Bloomberg TV, "I am confident that we will reach an agreement that works for everyone."

He closed by returning to Anne Frank, quoting the inscription on the American Military Cemetery at Margraten in the south of the Netherlands: "To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high."

Watch and read the full speech

Watch the speech on YouTube

Read the full official speech on the Dutch government website