Nijmegen Mayor Issues Formal Apology for Municipal Role in Colonial Slavery
The step follows Radboud University research documenting Nijmegen's entanglement with the colonial slavery system.
Overview
- Mayor Hubert Bruls delivered the apology on February 26 on behalf of the municipal executive during a symposium with stakeholders.
- The municipality cites a 2025 Radboud University study that found political, administrative and economic ties to colonial slavery, including instances of personal benefit to local officials.
- Researchers found no evidence that Nijmegen systematically organized slavery as a core municipal activity, while concluding the city was intertwined with and benefited from the system.
- City leaders explicitly align the apology with earlier national statements by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2022 and King Willem-Alexander in 2023.
- Following a year of public meetings and a city panel, the municipality plans further events before summer 2026 and will examine links between this history and present-day inequality and discrimination.