The Royal House of the Netherlands has announced the new dates for King Willem Alexander and Queen Máxima’s State Visit to Greece.
The royal couple will be travelling to the Mediterranean country between 16 and 18 March, a standard three-day-long state visit.
The first two days will be spent in Athens, with the first day seeing the traditional events, like the laying of a floral wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier, the official welcome ceremony, the visit with the Prime Minister, the meeting with the Dutch community in Greece and the much-awaited State Banquet.
In the afternoon of the 16th, the royals will also visit the Acropolis, one of the most famous and most ancient relics of the dawn of European civilisation.
The second day will be more focused on sustainability and health, with the attendance at the conference Parallel Economic Session on Sustainability and Agriculture, the Orange Grove pitch competition (an initiative promoted by the Dutch Embassy to help Greek start-ups) and the visit to Elpida oncology clinic, a structure within Paidon Children’s Hospital.
The activities of the afternoon will conclude with two separate conferences about gender violence. The first will be at the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre and will be centred around violence against women and domestic violence. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will then briefly separate and visit s boys’ shelter and a girls’ shelter, respectively; both structures opened in 2020 with the support of the Netherlands and are dedicated to welcoming unaccompanied minor refugees.
The second day will be concluded with the traditional performance for the host country offered by the King and Queen.
The third day will see the couple move to the island of Lesbos, famous for giving birth to classic Hellenic poets like Sappho and, more recently, for being one of the Mediterranean islands that serve as an outpost for rescuing migrants from the sea.
And King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima’s visit there will have migration as one of its focuses, with the scheduled tour of the Mavrovouni Reception and Identification Centre for migrants, where the Dutch have a handful of volunteers working.
The other focus will be sustainability, for which the couple will be given a tour of some of the University of Aegean’s newest facilities that have been built in accordance with different perspectives on the themes of sustainability and innovation.
The visit was supposed to happen in December 2021 but was postponed because both countries were going through a severe wave of infections due to the fast spread of Omicron. Since the situation is still subject to fast changes, the Royal Household of the Netherlands has taken the precaution of specifying that the programme will be adjusted according to the needs of the moment.
As all state visits, this trip will serve the purpose of highlighting the diplomatic, economic and innovative ties that bind Greece and the Netherlands and will strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
