The Dutch royal couple in Norway: – A great place to be
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– We have been here many, many times on private visits, from north to south. Norwegians and Dutch have a very similar view on many things, and it is a great place to be, King Willem-Alexander told NTB on Wednesday.
At the invitation of King Harald, he and Queen Máxima came to Norway on Tuesday. The Dutch king, who is also a pilot, was himself a co-pilot on the KLM flight to Oslo on Tuesday. He is happy to be back on Norwegian soil.
– Norway and the Netherlands are very like-minded countries, and friendships must be nurtured. Therefore, it is also very important to come back regularly, also in an official context, says the 54-year-old.
The state visit, which is the royal couple’s first in Norway, takes place just over a year according to the original plan.
– It was actually supposed to happen last year, but was unfortunately postponed for a year due to covid. But now that we are on our way out of the pandemic, it is probably not over yet, we can slowly but surely begin to look ahead, says the king.
On Wednesday, both the Dutch and Norwegian royal couple participated in an event about hate speech and freedom of expression at Oslo’s new main library, Deichmanske Bjørvika. Then the trip went to Akershus Fortress, where the royal couple had lunch with, among others, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
The Dutch royal couple will travel north to Trondheim on Thursday, where technology, research and business cooperation are on the agenda, and they will meet representatives of Sintef and NTNU. The three-day state visit ends with a choir concert in Nidaros Cathedral.
(© NTB)