King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima arrived in Paramaribo on Sunday evening for the Netherlands’ first state visit to Suriname in 47 years, NOS reports. The royal couple landed around 7:30 p.m. local time and will remain in Suriname for three days.
Not since 1978 — when Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard traveled to the young republic three years after independence — has a reigning Dutch monarch set foot in the country. That 1978 visit followed Suriname’s first president Johan Ferrier’s trip to the Netherlands the previous year, during which he extended a formal invitation to Juliana and Bernhard.
Willem-Alexander and Máxima will meet with descendants of enslaved people and Indigenous communities, and on the final day will visit a former plantation area along the Commewijnerivier. The visit also coincides with major economic expectations. Large offshore oil and gas discoveries near Suriname’s coast could bring billions in revenue.
This week’s return, however, comes at a sensitive moment. President Jennifer Simons, in office only since July 16, is a member of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the movement founded by Bouterse, whose 1980 military coup, the 1982 December Murders, and later presidency made royal visits impossible for decades. Bouterse was convicted by Dutch courts for cocaine trafficking and in Suriname for the killings, and died in December 2024.
Signs that a state visit might be possible surfaced earlier. In 2021, then-president Chan Santokhi hinted he would invite Willem-Alexander. That same year, the Tweede Kamer adopted a motion from Denk lawmaker Tunahan Kuzu urging a state visit linked to Suriname’s 46th independence anniversary. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he saw “no obstacles” apart from COVID-19 but warned the preparation could take “years.”
At the annual Dutch press meeting on June 30, Willem-Alexander said a visit required an invitation: “And that is not the case.” Queen Máxima added: “We have to wait and see.” The timing again drew scrutiny. The royal couple arrived six days after Suriname celebrated its 50th independence anniversary on November 25.
A major turning point in the relationship reportedly came on July 1, 2023, when Willem-Alexander publicly apologized during the National Slave History Remembrance in Amsterdam. He asked forgiveness because his predecessors had never intervened against slavery.
A full, independent study into the House of Orange’s role in colonial history — commissioned by the king — is still pending.
For Willem-Alexander, this current visit is also a continuation of his own commitments following his Keti Koti remarks. He opened the new Suriname Museum in Amsterdam on November 25, which highlights colonial history and slavery. The state visit is intended, according to the Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, to “look to the future with an eye on the past” — an effort to rebuild ties after decades of tension, political upheaval, and broken diplomatic connections.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source nltimes.nl ’
