King Willem-Alexander, Current Events Part 3 (December 2020- present)

[Marengo]

It seems we are having new ministers every other day. They all consistently fail to mention that they have a demissionairy status as we have had no functioning government since January and a new one is not in sight.

The VVD minister that she is replacing is moving to work for a lobby group related to her work. This would have been illegal until 2019 but the government quietly changed the rules. In the European Union and in a lot of other European countries this would be forbidden due to fears of corruption.

[An Ard Ri]

The King received the Belgian ,Swedish and German Ambassador today at Noordeinde palace in The Hague.

https://www.ppe-agency.com/show.php?...-09-2021%20The

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Marengo

It seems we are having new ministers every other day. They all consistently fail to mention that they have a demissionairy status as we have had no functioning government since January and a new one is not in sight.

The VVD minister that she is replacing is moving to work for a lobby group related to her work. This would have been illegal until 2019 but the government quietly changed the rules. In the European Union and in a lot of other European countries this would be forbidden due to fears of corruption.

The Government is outgoing but the coalition still has a majority. Problem is that the relations in said coalition have changed: two parties were victorious, one party got a fatal electoral blow. But statistically they still hold the majority. Before the elections 77 of the 150 seats, after the elections 78 of the 150 seats. But the composition is totally different.

So yes, the current Government is outgoing, at the same time, as long as there is no new Government, they have enough votes in Parliament. Constitutionally the proposals of the Government have sufficient support. These days the Cabinet is preparing the Budget 2022 as if it is a fully missionary Government.

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

The King received the Belgian Ambassador today at Noordeinde palace in The Hague.

https://www.ppe-agency.com/show.php?...-09-2021%20The

Three Ambassadors: two neighbours (Belgium and Germany) and two kingdoms (Belgium and Sweden).

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

The Government is outgoing but the coalition still has a majority. Problem is that the relations in said coalition have changed: two parties were victorious, one party got a fatal electoral blow. But statistically they still hold the majority. Before the elections 77 of the 150 seats, after the elections 78 of the 150 seats. But the composition is totally different.

So yes, the current Government is outgoing, at the same time, as long as there is no new Government, they have enough votes in Parliament. Constitutionally the proposals of the Government have sufficient support. These days the Cabinet is preparing the Budget 2022 as if it is a fully missionary Government.

Indeed, a continuation of the present government was always the most evident way forward but apparently irreconsilable differences has popped up all of a sudden. Anyway, it is likely that a record will be broken as they only have to stall for 50 days more to break the 2017 record of 225 days.

---
Rick Evers posted a little clip of the carriages at the palace:
https://twitter.com/RickEversRoyal/s...766130183?s=20

I believe it is the Swedish anthem that is played.

[iceflower]

King Willem-Alexander swore in new Supreme Court judges today, September 1:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **


And here are some more photos of the ambassadors reception today:


** rex gallery ** anp gallery **

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by iceflower

King Willem-Alexander swore in new Supreme Court judges today, September 1:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **


And here are some more photos of the ambassadors reception today:


** rex gallery ** anp gallery **

If there is a jacquet and white tie rental in The Hague, they do good business with all the ambassadors, ministers, state secretaries, justices, state counsels, state auditors, etc. whom are received by the King conforming to a dresscode.

[iceflower]

King Willem-Alexander opened the Floating Office Rotterdam of the Global Centre on Adaptation in Rotterdam this afternoon, September 6. Also present were Prince Jaime and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.


** anp gallery ** ppe gallery **


** gettyimages gallery: NLD: King Willem-Alexander Of The Netherlands Opens Floating Office In Rotterdam **

[iceflower]

This morning, September 7, King Willem-Alexander opened the Cultural Historic Centre De Tiid in Bolsward:


** ppe gallery ** anp gallery ** rex gallery**

[iceflower]

King Willem-Alexander received the new Ambassadors of Malaysia, Pakistan and Denmark today, September 8:


** rex gallery ** ppe gallery **


And afterwards he welcomed Chandrikapersad (Chan) Santokhi, President of the Republic of Suriname, at Palace Noordeinde:


** ppe gallery ** anp gallery ** gettyimages gallery **

[iceflower]

King Willem-Alexander attended the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Rotterdam Ahoy and the opening of the new Rotterdam Ahoy Convention Centre (RACC) and RTM Stage today, September 9:


** ppe gallery ** anp gallery ** rex gallery **

[Lee-Z]

Ki. Willem-Alexander receives an amount of 4,7 milion euro of public funding every 5 years for the maintenance of nature reserve "Het Loo".
For other people in a similar situation this means that they have to allow entry to the nature reserve to the public. The King until now closes Het Loo for 3 months a year.
On 08-09 it was announced that Dutch government is discussing a proposal to start treating the King's domain the same as other people would be treated, so he would not be allowed to close the nature reserve any more, or loose the public funding for it.
https://translate.google.com/transla...die-wil-houden

Today, 09-09, the Government has confirmed that the King intends to close Het Loo this year, from next wednesday until christmas.
https://translate.google.com/transla...dag-opnieuw-af

[iceflower]

King Willem-Alexander unveiled the National Holocaust Memorial of Names in Amsterdam this afternoon, September 19:


** ppe gallery ** anp gallery ** anp gallery 2 ** rex gallery **

[Prinsara]

"King Willem-Alexander, and Jacques Grishaver, chairman of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee, pick up a stone to lay down as an act of remembrance"

https://previews.rexfeatures.com/pre...a93d21fff7b4e1

There are so many of those stones.

[Marengo]

Around 102.000 of them.

The monument caused some commotion and legal battles from the neighbourhood but it is finally finished. Mr Grishaver (the man next to the king) as chairman of the Auschwitz comittee has fought for 15 years to get the project realised.

The architect is Daniel Liebeskind and from above the monument shows the Hebrew letters that form the word 'lezecher' which means 'in memoriam of'.

[Prinsara]

Not the stones in the memorial, the ones that people pick up and place for remembrance of a person, like the king and Mr. Grishaver are doing. Seeing what looks like a ton of those (I don't know if there are actually 102,000 or more, or who will manage them) is even sadder.

[Marengo]

I was wondering about those stones too. I believe it is a Jewish tradition, to lay stones on a grave. But I have no idea if other visitors are supposed to follow the example of the king and Mr. Grishaver as it means it will soon be impossible to move through the paths.

Many of those who visited today were rather moved to see something tangible of their murdered relatives. It seems they especially found comfort in touching the bricks with the names.

The monument is built on the spot of a much older, smaller and now demolished monument that was erected by the Jewish population after the war in gratitude of the people of Amsterdam for their help. Now it is of course clear that many did not help or even tried to benifit from the situation. After the survivors returned most were not welcomed with open arms by their former neighbours who often had stolen furniture etc.

[eya]

King Willem-Alexander swear in the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense today

https://www.ppe-agency.com/show.php?...-09-2021%20The

https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?eventid=6033150

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by eya

King Willem-Alexander swear in the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense today

https://www.ppe-agency.com/show.php?...-09-2021%20The

https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?eventid=6033150

The two ministers are retired politicians revived into life, whom have been picked out of the moth balls, but are very experienced anyway:


Remarkable: Mr Knapen, now a servant of the Crown, has been a member of the Republican Society but left it after a short period, claiming "it was just a raillery joke".

[iceflower]

King Willem-Alexander paid a working visit to the Chancellery of the Dutch Orders in Den Haag this morning, September 28, and unveiled a very special sculpture


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** anp gallery ** ppe gallery ** rex gallery **


And he swore in a new member of the Council of State at Noordeinde Palace:


** anp gallery **

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I was wondering about those stones too. I believe it is a Jewish tradition, to lay stones on a grave. But I have no idea if other visitors are supposed to follow the example of the king and Mr. Grishaver as it means it will soon be impossible to move through the paths.

As a Jew, yes, that is the tradition, and that's why seeing so many of them hurts even more. But I feel like Mr. Liebskind and Mr. Grishaver and the committee in charge probably took the management of the stones and the memorial into account when it was designed.

Many of those who visited today were rather moved to see something tangible of their murdered relatives. It seems they especially found comfort in touching the bricks with the names.

As a descendant of survivors, the people who were murdered have no graves and in many cases almost nothing left behind. I would feel the same way if I saw my relatives' names somewhere. Even for people who aren't my relatives. Even for people who have graves, the Vietnam Wall in Washington has never stopped moving people.

The monument is built on the spot of a much older, smaller and now demolished monument that was erected by the Jewish population after the war in gratitude of the people of Amsterdam for their help. Now it is of course clear that many did not help or even tried to benifit from the situation. After the survivors returned most were not welcomed with open arms by their former neighbours who often had stolen furniture etc.

"We thought we'd gotten rid of you." Unfortunately that isn't exclusive to the Netherlands in the slightest, and probably happened in every single country in Europe. Some people did help; most didn't, and it's pretty important to recognize both.

"May their memory be a blessing" is the Jewish saying, and I hope this memorial is able to comfort and educate.