Dutch King, Queen and cabinet avoided Russian delegation at Venice Biennale
King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and the Dutch Minister of Culture deliberately avoided all contact with the Russian delegation during their visit to the Venice Biennale.
This emerges from answers by Minister Letschert (Education, Culture and Science) to parliamentary questions from Volt MP Laurens Dassen.
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Our analysis:
Contacts with Russia remain highly sensitive in the Netherlands. A spontaneous beer shared between the King and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia is still widely regarded as a major misstep. Russia’s participation in the Biennale has once again exposed those sensitivities. Italy’s Minister of Culture boycotted the opening altogether. The Netherlands chose not to attend that official opening, but did opt for high-level representation at its own pavilion.
Contacts with Russia remain highly sensitive in the Netherlands. A spontaneous beer shared between the King and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia is still widely regarded as a major misstep. Russia’s participation in the Biennale has once again exposed those sensitivities. Italy’s Minister of Culture boycotted the opening altogether. The Netherlands chose not to attend that official opening, but did opt for high-level representation at its own pavilion.
