Dutch FM sees no grounds for cancelling king’s visit to Russia

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said he did not see any grounds for cancelling a visit to Russia by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima to take part in a ceremony of opening Bilateral Year 2013. Commenting on reports after the attack on a Dutch diplomat in Moscow, Timmermans told national television that there were no grounds to scrap the Bilateral Year agenda and to cancel the Dutch monarch’s visit to Russia. “It’s too early to demand Russia apologize. Criminals are still unknown. We should clarify who should apologise,” the foreign minister said. Dutch parliamentarians have held debates due to the incident. On Tuesday evening, October 15, unidentified persons pushed a foreigner into his apartment of one of the houses in Moscow’s Povarskaya Street, floored a man, trussed him up with a scotch, littered the apartment and disappeared. On Wednesday, October 16, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte named the incident as very serious. However, he said it was early to talk about any actions due to be taken by the Netherlands.