State Visit from Italy to the Netherlands

  October 28, 2012 at 10:41 pm by

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The Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife Clio started a three-day State Visit to the Netherlands on October 23.

They were welcomed by Queen Beatrix on Tuesday at the Palace Noordeinde in The Hague. In the afternoon the President had a meeting with the Italian community in the Netherlands. The first day ended with a state banquet. Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Margriet and Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven were present.

In her speech, the Queen said that Italy is “a land of enchantment” and she also affirmed that Italy is a “trusted partner” in the European Union.

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On the second day of the visit, President Napolitano visited the the Senate and the House of Representatives accompanied by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, where they had a meeting, before the President had meetings with the House of Representatives Speaker Anouchka van Miltenburg and Senate President Fred de Graaf. The President, along with Mrs Napolitano, also layed a wreath in front of a plaque in honor of 1940-1945 victims at the House of Representatives. At the end of the engagement, the Prime Minister and the President held a press conference in the Ministry of General Affairs.

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In the afternoon Queen Beatrix accompanied the President and his wife to visit ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk. They had a chance to talk with the astronauts there, including Dutchman André Kuipers and Italian Luca Parmitano. The second day ended with a concert of the Italian violinist Uto Ughi at Diligentia Theater.

The State Visit ended on October 25 at the Noordeinde Palace where the national anthems of Italy and the Netherlands were played at the presence of Queen Beatrix, President Napolitano and Mrs Napolitano.

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