The intended state visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands to Greece has now been postponed following the continued spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
In consultation with the Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the visit has been put back. It was set to take place between Monday 13 December to Wednesday 15 December.
The state visit has been postponed due to the growing number of coronavirus infections across Europe and the measures being taken to prevent the spread of the virus. The State Visit was set to be a confirmation of the good relations between the two countries. During the visit, attention would had be paid to bilateral and international relations in the fields of economy and innovation, sustainability, migration and human rights.
Since 1834, Greece and the Netherlands have had full diplomatic relations. The Netherlands have an embassy in Athens and 12 honorary consulates in Corfu, Herakleion, Kalamata, Kavala, Patras, Piraeus, Rhodes, Samos, Syros, Thessaloniki, Volos, and Ioannina. Greece has an embassy in The Hague, and a consulate-general in Rotterdam. Both countries are full members of NATO and of the European Union.
Through the European Union, the two nations have strengthened their economic cooperation in recent decades.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima have a lot of affection for Greece and own a private villa in Greece. However, their decision to holiday there in October 2020, just after the Dutch government urged people not to travel abroad, drew sharp criticism as did their rushed return. The King and Queen subsequently made a public apology for their decision.
