State Visit from Argentina to The Netherlands: Day One

Today, Monday March 27, the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, accompanied by his wife Juliana Awada, began a two-day State Visit to the Netherlands. Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima officially welcomed the President and First Lady with a ceremony held at the Dam Square.

During the welcoming ceremony the President and the King inspected a guard of honour and the national anthems were played. Afterwards the President and his wife laid a wreath at the National Monument on Dam Square.

President Macri legt krans bij het Nationaal Monument op de Dam in #NLARG pic.twitter.com/rzeyhl8fkV

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) March 27, 2017

Along with Queen Máxima, the President and First Lady paid a visit to the Anne Frank House, a Museum dedicated to the Jewish diarist that was persecuted by the Nazi with her family during the Second World War. In the presence of President Macri was signed an agreement between the Anne Frank House and the Argentine Ministry of Education and the Centro Ana Frank in Buenos Aires with a focus to improve the cooperation in the field of education of young people in the fight against discrimination and violence.

The President and First Lady made a tour of the Museum and signed the guest book.

In the afternoon President Macri and his wife, along with the Royal Couple, participated in the business forum titled “Argentina and the Netherlands – A partnership fit for the 21st century” held at the Beurs van Berlage Conference Centre in Amsterdam in the presence of Dutch and Argentine businessmen. The purpose of the event was the promotion of the economic cooperation between the two countries. Then took place a roundtable meeting with Dutch and Argentine CEOs.

Later, in the presence of the Royal Couple and the President and his wife, was signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in sports between the Argentina Ministry of Education and Sports and the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.

The first day ended with a State Banquet held at the Royal Palace. At the banquet was also present Princess Beatrix.

In his speech King Willem-Alexander expressed his delight for the realization of the state visit because “this is the first ever state visit by an Argentinian president to the Netherlands”. The King also stated his appreciation for Argentina, which he defined as “a country that believes in the importance of ambition and development” and he also added that the country “gave me the most precious of gifts: my wife, our Dutch Queen”.

King Willem-Alexander also stressed the importance of the economic ties between the two countries.

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged Argentina, Bilateral Relations, King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Museum, President Macri of Argentina, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Sport, State Visit, World War II.