Tomorrow King Willem-Alexander will fly to Germany with Queen Máxima for a three-day state visit. In recent years he has already visited the German federal states and this is the final piece. It is his twentieth state visit.
The trip was put on hold last year because of corona, but behind the scenes there was a great desire to continue the visit while Angela Merkel is still Chancellor. She’s up to her last months busy. The visit should therefore symbolize the good relationship with the eastern neighbours, both in terms of trade and politics.
They were asked in advance to keep the program secret. That should prevent German orange fans from gathering to catch a glimpse of the two. But fixed ingredients are always there during a state visit: a state banquet, projects with a relationship to the Netherlands and a photo opportunity in an iconic place. Only a meeting with the Dutch community in Berlin is not possible due to corona measures. At the end there is a short press conference.
First work trip abroad
This makes this the first foreign work trip for the king after corona. It is striking that he has recently been operating outside the palace walls much more often. In corona time he made many visits digitally behind his desk. This often obscured the view of the outside world and brought him the accusation that he was hardly visible. When there was publicity, it was because of the trip to his holiday home in Greece. that trip drew a lot of criticism, because the Dutch were advised not to travel at that time.
It seems that a kickstart of the king after corona is being worked on. Invitations are now flying out the door again to be on a working visit of the couple. He can therefore also be seen in the country more often: to visit exhibitions (the Gouden Koets), for regional visits (North Limburg) and working visits, occasionally even unannounced.
Visibility back
The latter happened two weeks ago in the orange street of the Netherlands, the Marktweg, in The Hague. The king then stood between the people with an orange scarf, it had to be a symbol of unity. But because the king kept too little distance and shook hands, the visit did not go smoothly. “Everyone must adhere to the one and a half meter measure, including the king”, said, for example, outgoing minister Van Ark of Medical Care.
Because of all these new visits, the visibility of the king is returning. Just like the other visits, this state visit also generates a lot of media attention. In doing so, it should make the mistakes of last year forgotten and above all show the Netherlands what the royal family is intended for.
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