"I am taking the job at a time when many in the kingdom feel vulnerable and uncertain," Willem-Alexander said. That's below the EU average, but a 20-year high in the Netherlands. European Union figures released Tuesday showed Dutch unemployment spiking upward toward 6.4 per cent. More recently, this trading nation of 17 million has suffered back-to-back recessions. In response, politicians curtailed many of the famed Dutch tolerance policies. "As king, I can strengthen the bond of mutual trust between the people and their government, maintain our democracy and serve the public interest."įor most of the 2000s, the country was locked in an intense national debate over the perceived failure of Muslim immigrants, mostly from North Africa, to integrate. "I want to establish ties, make connections and exemplify what unites us, the Dutch people," the freshly minted king said at a nationally televised investiture ceremony in Amsterdam's 600-year-old New Church, held before the combined houses of Dutch parliament. Princess Beatrix of Netherlands, left, embraces her son, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima at the balcony of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
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