King: Consensus in kingdom important

King Willem-Alexander during his Throne Speech on Budget Day Tuesday, spoke about the importance of seeking consensus within the Dutch Kingdom.

As is customary, the king dedicated some attention to kingdom relations in the annual speech that he traditionally reads on the occasion of the formal opening the new working year of the Dutch Parliament.

“In the Caribbean part of our kingdom, corona has made life more difficult for many people, because the island econo­mies were hit very hard as a result of the enormous downturn of tourism,” stated the king.

“For Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, together the Carib­bean Netherlands, the economic support measures apply similarly to those in our country. Agreements have been made with the countries Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten to accomplish that financial support leads to an economy that is more resilient and shock-proof.”

The king said that consensus plays an essential role. “In these talks it is important to keep seeking consensus. That makes our kingdom stronger as a whole.” The remaining part of the Throne Speech, which was more than 20 minutes long, was about the Netherlands, its economy, the effects of the pandemic and other policy subjects such as social hous­ing, climate change, Afghanistan, education and the consti­tutional state.

The Daily Herald.