President Sarkozy hurls abuse at Dutch EU Commissioner. Former Labour PM defends massive bank bonuses. Stranded Dutch tourists go crazy in Machu Picchu. Past betrayal haunts war crimes suspect. And Dutch problem youths exploited abroad.

De Telegraaf is up in arms today over comments reportedly made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy about Dutch European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes. According to a French weekly, Mr Sarkozy said at a cabinet meeting that Ms Kroes "has no more than two brain cells" and that "if stupidity was a punishable offence, that Kroes woman would be first in line."

There are no prizes for guessing whose side De Telegraaf is on. It rants "the pint-sized French president ... is known for using offensive language about other politicians and has now aimed his poison arrows at Neelie Kroes after she queried his involvement with Renault." The paper has clearly decided that Mr Sarkozy’s stature is his most sensitive point, noting acidly that "the little man has a very high opinion of himself". Dutch politicians are also keen to weigh in, with one MP announcing "This bling bling president is known for his blah blah. But knowing Neelie, she'll remain unruffled."

Nrc.next reports that the EU Commissioner has ruffled a few feathers in her home country. Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos and banking and insurance giant ING are launching an appeal against Ms Kroes’ ruling that ING effectively received 2 billion extra in government support. The minister says the commissioner hasn't made it clear how she arrived at this conclusion, but she maintains that "legally, the decision is 100 percent watertight". Mr Bos doesn’t seem like the type to indulge in playground insults but you never know …

Former prime minister denies bank-bonus U-turn
Former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok has grabbed a few headlines today by defending the massive salaries and bonuses paid to bankers. On its front page, de Volkskrant notes wryly that “the former PM had a lot of explaining to do” as he appeared before the inquiry into the causes of the credit crisis. As the paper reports, it’s quite a turn around: in 1997 he was condemning financial big wigs for “exhibitionistic self-enrichment” and ten years later, as a member of the supervisory board at ING he was backing “a 584 percent rise in the boss’s bonus”.

But Mr Kok was having none of it in yesterday’s hearing, repeatedly insisting that his views had never changed. “In spite of my opinions about the social desirability of the very substantial rise in the payment package, I reasoned in the interests of ING, which was my duty as a commissioner. We had no choice.” The paper concludes that, after his unapologetic testimony, Mr Kok sidestepped the assembled media. “Apparently he still knew a secret passageway leading down to the parking lot and he vanished.” Perhaps actions speak louder than words?

Stranded Machu Picchu tourists ‘going crazy’
AD returns to the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu, where tourists are still stranded by torrential rains and mudslides. One of the 27 Dutch tourists awaiting rescue tells the paper “It’s a disaster and I’m going a bit crazy.”

AD reveals that around 1500 tourists are still at the site “complaining bitterly about corruption and deprivation as they desperately wait for rescue.” It seems that so far, helicopter rescue operations have been limited to rich Americans and the over 60s. The Dutch Foreign Ministry insists that all of the remaining Dutch tourists “most of them healthy young backpackers” are safe and none of them are sleeping on the streets.

But 28-year-old Ragnhilde van Dijk tells AD that the situation for those who remain is deteriorating. Hotels are overflowing and charging extortionate rates, restaurants have closed for lack of food and drinking water is scarce and selling for five times the normal price. Ragnhilde is trying to make the best of it as she resigns herself to waiting at least another two days for rescue. “I’m helping out at a nursing post. We talk about the weather a lot. What else is there to talk about?”

Betrayal returns to haunt war crimes suspect
Trouw reports on new developments in a World War II war crimes case. Former SS officer Heinrich Boere is currently on trial in Germany for three murders but he has been linked to seven more deaths in the final year of the war. While admitting that “the chance that Boere will be prosecuted in connection with the new cases is small” the paper nevertheless believes that the story is worth telling.

The new cases have emerged from old police records concerning a Nazi raid on the rural Dutch town of Helden-Panningen, where large numbers of people had gone into hiding, among them Jews, British pilots and resistance fighters. Heinrich Boere pretended to be someone in need of a secret place to hide from the Germans and was taken in by farmers. He left a day later saying he was going to pick up some personal belongings but it wasn’t long before 100 German soldiers stormed the town and arrested over 50 people. Eighteen were sent to the concentration camps and nine never returned.

Lawyers representing the victims’ families are insistent: “Boere knew the machinery he was setting in motion when he betrayed those in hiding … Whoever committed such an act knew that death would follow.” When questioned by police in 1946, Heinrich Boere admitted his key role in the operation and revealed what was in it for him. Trouw states simply “The reward for his act of betrayal was 75 guilders and a day off.”

‘No work, no food’ for Dutch problem youths abroad
De Volkskrant reveals that problem teenagers under the care of youth services have been exploited in projects abroad. In some cases the youngsters had to work unpaid for 14 hours a day, 7 days a week and were told “no work, no food”, which the paper points out “goes against children’s rights”. Some kids were confronted with host families who couldn’t cope with them, resulting in verbal abuse and shouting matches.

The paper reports that around a third of Dutch youth care organisations run projects abroad, from two-week supervised survival trips to six months working on a farm. Most of the kids go to France, but other destinations include Belgium, Austria, Poland and Britain. The paper reports that even though the youngsters are placed through recognised Dutch care institutions, Dutch inspectors simply aren’t authorised to carry out checks abroad.

Youth Affairs Minister André Rouvoet has promised improvements in supervision by working more closely with the responsible bodies in the countries concerned. But de Volkskrant observes that the report, made public on Wednesday, spent a year languishing on the shelf while the minister “considered which course of action to follow”. Let’s hope for the kids’ sake that the wait has been worth it.