‘We will abort our vacation. We see people’s reactions to media reports. And they are intense, and they affect us. We do not want to leave any doubts about it: to get the Covid-19 virus under it, it is necessary to follow the guidelines. The discussion on the occasion of our holiday does not contribute to that, ‘King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima report via the Government Information Service (RVD).
But now that the holiday has ended, the political storm has not just abated and the arrows are targeting Prime Minister Rutte. The RVD announced on Friday evening that he was aware of the vacation plans. “He is at all times ministerial responsibility, and also knew about this trip in this case,” said a spokesman. Government and opposition parties believe that the prime minister should have stopped this sensitive journey.
“It would have been better if the prime minister had protected the king from this,” says D66 Member of Parliament Joost Sneller. PvdA member Attje Kuiken wonders ‘why the prime minister did not protect the king from this in his ministerial responsibility, while he called on all Dutch people this week to be cautious about holidays.’
GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver wants from Rutte to know why the prime minister has not advised against the holiday. He calls the king’s departure for Greece ‘an error of judgment’, his immediate return the ‘only correct decision’.
That the royal family had left with the government plane to Greece, where the king has a holiday home, was announced on Friday afternoon. Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge was surprised during the weekly press conference when he was asked about this, he was not informed. Government and opposition parties soon afterwards came with criticism, because the cabinet called on everyone this week to stay at home.
For the second time in the corona crisis, King Willem-Alexander embarrassed the cabinet with a holiday in Greece. Last summer, the head of state had to apologize when holiday images surfaced in which he and King Máxima did not adhere to the distance rules.
The Government Information Service emphasized this time that the royal family adhered to all rules: the holiday area where the royal villa is located has a code yellow. But the prime minister asked the population on Tuesday not to think like that and just stay at home: ‘W.Don’t be that stubborn person who pushes the boundaries of the rules. ‘
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