Netherlands–Russia relations

Netherlands–Russia relations

Netherlands
Russia

Netherlands–Russia relations is the relationships between the two countries, the Netherlands and Russia. Russia has an embassy in The Hague, and the Netherlands have an embassy in Moscow, a consulate in Saint Petersburg, and an honorary consulate in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

History

During the time of Peter the Great

Peter the Great whilst on his tour of western Europe (1697-1698) visited the Netherlands and practised as a shipwright in Zaandam. During his stay he managed to recruit some Dutch maritime expertise for the newly established Russian navy. One of the most notable Dutch members of the Russian navy was the Norwegian-born captain Cornelius Cruys, who after several years of service reached the rank of admiral and became the first commander of the Baltic Fleet.

Statue of Peter the Great in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

From the revolution until the cold war

Since the Russian Revolution, The Netherlands did not have any diplomatic relationships with the Soviet Union until the end of the Second World War.[1] During the war, the Dutch government was in exile.

During WW2, 25.000 Dutch volunteers[2] joined the Waffen SS, and fought on the Eastern front against the Soviet Union. They were not supported by the government in exile.

During the cold war

During the cold war, all the Dutch consecutive governments perceived the Soviet Union and the Warsaw pact as a threat to its safety.

Russian Federation

As the Netherlands is a member of the European Union, the relation between Russia and the Netherlands is closely related to the Russia–European Union relations.

On October 2011 president Dmitry Medvedev met in the Kremlin with the Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte to discuss bilateral ties.[3]

Aside from commerce and politics, there have been some notable Dutch influence on Russian football, with Guus Hiddink in 2006–2010 followed by Dick Advocaat in 2010–2012 as head coach of the Russian national team.[4]

In the year 2013 a number of cultural activities took place in the Netherlands and Russia to celebrate 400 years of diplomatic ties.[5] Russian president Vladimir Putin visited Amsterdam. In October 2013, the ties between the countries were strained when a group of Greenpeace activists were arrested during a protest on an Arctic oil rig owned by Gazprom. On October 9, the minister counsellor Dmitri Borodin, working at the Russian embassy in The Hague, was detained after allegations of abusing his children.[6] Dutch minister of foreign affairs Frans Timmermans apologized later for the violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Subsequently, on October 15, the Dutch diplomat Onno Elderenbosch was physically attacked in his apartment in Moscow by two men posing as electricians.[7] During the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, Vladimir Putin visited the Holland Heineken House and drank a beer with King Willem Alexander.[8]

Relations were further strained when an airliner carrying 193 Dutch nationals was shot down during the War in Donbass.

Notable Russians in the Netherlands

Notable Dutch in Russia

See also

References

  1. ↑ Reve, Karel van het Rusland hoe het was, Contact publishing house Amsterdam, 1976, page 119
  2. ↑ van Roekel, Evertjan. "Nederlandse SS'ers en de Holocaust". Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Reuters, October 20, 2011
  4. ↑ "Dick Advocaat set to replace Guus Hiddink as Russia go double Dutch". The Guardian. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  5. ↑ NU.nl. 17 October 2013 http://www.nu.nl/cultuur-overig/3604458/stedelijk-museum-sluit-ruslandjaar-af-met-malevich.html. Retrieved December 26, 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Putin demands Dutch arrest apology as ties worsen BBC News Europe,retrieved 10-8-2013
  7. ↑ BBC News Europe, retrieved 10-16-2013
  8. ↑ The Voice of Russia, retrieved 03-17-2014
  9. ↑ "Derk Sauer: "20 Years Later"". Moscow Times. Retrieved 29 November 2012.

External links

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