Mark Rutte Quotes & Sayings

I am from the Netherlands, so that means we like to stick to the rules, and we like to stick to the deal, and we like countries to do what they have promised. — Mark Rutte

We have pension funds with 1.5 trillion euros investments, and they want to find business opportunities in India. — Mark Rutte

Radical changes will come to the Netherlands. We stand for fundamental choices, and we need to make the right ones. — Mark Rutte

As we all know from the Roman empire, big empires go down if the borders are not well-protected. — Mark Rutte

Before we kill Schengen, we have to make Dublin work. — Mark Rutte

I believe the United Kingdom will be worse off outside the E.U. It will not have the influence it has in the world today. — Mark Rutte

Our national prosperity is built on our open borders. However, the reality is that if a points system is introduced in the UK it would be unavoidable for us in the Netherlands to implement similar proposals - and inevitable that many other EU countries would follow suit. — Mark Rutte

It's amazing how kind everyone is here in the U.S. — Mark Rutte

We need not to just kill the boat-smuggling business model: we also need to get rid of this asylum-shopping in the European Union. — Mark Rutte

We are a trading nation, and we are trading with Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland. — Mark Rutte

Leadership does matter. — Mark Rutte

I used to walk in the Bowery in the early 1980s, and it was not safe. It went from this to Disneyland under Giuliani and Bloomberg. This is now one of the best-run big cities in the world. — Mark Rutte

In the Netherlands, we have had a difficult year and we are now getting out of this difficulty. So we have now growth prospects for 2014. — Mark Rutte

The U.K. is outward-looking, trade-oriented, growth-oriented, and we do not have enough of that storyline, that tradition, that culture within the European Union. — Mark Rutte

England has collapsed politically, monetarily, constitutionally, and economically. It is not reasonable to demand from them to trigger Article 50. — Mark Rutte

It's not only the British voters who have doubts about European cooperation. There is skepticism in many other E.U. countries. — Mark Rutte

We are extremely vulnerable because we take too much time to implement the necessary measures. This is a painful process. When you go through a painful process - make it as short as possible — Mark Rutte

No one wants to kill Schengen, but if it is only a fairweather system, then it cannot survive. — Mark Rutte

I believe on the issue of immigration, you have to deal with it sensibly. — Mark Rutte

The Netherlands and the UK are both seafaring nations and so our ability to create jobs and to generate future growth is built on the free market. — Mark Rutte

I was very much surprised by the Johnson/Gove proposals to make it harder for Europeans to work in the U.K. if Britain were to vote to leave the E.U. — Mark Rutte

This goes back to the main challenge we are facing, because Europe at the moment is not competitive. We have many imbalances and my big worry is that we will slow down in Europe in terms of fiscal consolidations and reforms, whilst we have to step up ... — Mark Rutte

The U.K. outside of the European Union will end up being a mid-sized economy, somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in neither America nor Europe. — Mark Rutte

I am absolutely convinced that the E.U. will still be around. I am convinced the U.K. will be sitting at that table and not negotiating an exit, but being there to stay. — Mark Rutte

Free trade creates jobs and prosperity in the Netherlands at the port of Rotterdam or the airport at Schiphol. — Mark Rutte

The annual cost of cybercrime to the global economy is more than $4 billion — Mark Rutte

Countries themselves need to do everything possible to remain in the euro zone. — Mark Rutte

It shouldn't be the asylum seekers wondering which country they want go to. It should be Europe telling them where to be, be it Lithuania, Sweden, or wherever. — Mark Rutte

Monti is a person who is an expert on both the political and professional level. — Mark Rutte

This is what the European Union is all about. A strong market with a strong currency. — Mark Rutte

Never waste a crisis. — Mark Rutte

We need Britain not only to stay in the E.U. but to be very active in it. — Mark Rutte

The good thing about the IMF is there is no European politics involved. — Mark Rutte

Our ability to create jobs, our future growth, is built on the free market. It's built on open borders. — Mark Rutte

David Cameron has a lot of credibility and influence. — Mark Rutte

The Netherlands has been severely hit by the debt crisis, and the solution is to lower taxes, get government finances in order, and make room for investment. — Mark Rutte