Dutch State Visit to Greece

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands are on a State Visit to Greece at the invitation of President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, from October 31st to November 2nd in Athens and Thessaloniki, after being delayed twice. The Netherlands and Greece are jointly committed to an open, innovative and safe and stable Europe. During the visit, attention will be paid to cooperation in the field of innovation, sustainability, migration and human rights and the partnership within the European Union.

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King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima laid a wreath at the monument to the unknown soldier on Syntagma Square in Athens before being officially welcomed by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Pavlos Kotsonis at the Presidential Mansion.

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The King and Queen then spoke with the Greek and Dutch Ombudsman in the Netherlands Institute in Athens before visiting the Acropolis, including a walk to the Erechtheion and the Parthenon. Later, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima met Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis and hosted a Reception for the Dutch Community in the Technopolis.

In the evening, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Pavlos Kotsonis hosted a State Dinner in honour of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima (wearing the Mellerio Ruby Tiara) at the Presidential Mansion in Athens. Both the King and President gave speeches. The Presidential Mansion is the former Royal Palace in Athens, where the King’s mother, Princess Beatrix, attended King Paul’s 60th Birthday Banquet at the Royal Palace of Athens in 1961 and the Wedding Ball of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece in 1962.

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On the second day of the State Visit, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima visited the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, seeing a a World Press Photo exhibition on women’s rights before a round table discussion on combating violence against women with Greek and Dutch policymakers and representatives of human rights and implementation organisations.

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Afterwards, the King and Queen attended a pitch competition of Orange Grove startups, an initiative of the Dutch embassy offering support to young Greek entrepreneurs, before a visit to the oncology clinic Elpida of the children’s hospital Paidon, followed by a meeting about pediatric oncology and Greek-Dutch cooperation.

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In the afternoon, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima attend a concert by refugee children from a number of Greek refugee camps, organized by the Greek-Dutch NGO Connect by Music, before the King visited a shelter for Ukrainian children while Queen Máxima went to a shelter for unaccompanied minor girls with a refugee background.

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In the evening, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima (wearing the House Diamond Earrings) hosted a Return Concert of the Nederlands Danstheater in the Megaron Mousikis Concert Hall in Athens. 

One thought on “Dutch State Visit to Greece

  1. I am SO glad that the Queen did her best to surprise us and gave us a splendid tiara outing even though – by the looks of it – the dinner was only a suit and tie event. The Queen showed how it should be done and she was just so regal in that long even gown and those glittering rubies and diamonds.

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