Dutch king, queen to meet Pres. Obama; visit Chicago, Michigan

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and Foreign Minister Bert Koenders will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House during a three-day visit to the United States, the Netherlands Royal House announced on Tuesday. Following a stop in Washington D.C., the Dutch leaders will continue to Grand Rapids, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois.
It is the first trip to the U.S. For the royal couple since becoming King and Queen in April 2013. They will also be joined by a delegation of Dutch entrepreneurs on the June 1 - June 3 excursion.

"In the economic sector, the Netherlands is a fixture of the top five foreign investors in the United States and is the No. 1 destination for American foreign investments," the embassy in Washington noted. "The Dutch and U.S. economic relationship also supports 685,000 American jobs."

"Their visit underscores the strong friendship between our two countries,” said the Dutch ambassador to the U.S., Rudolf Bekink, in a statement.

Delegations from the Netherlands visited Michigan in 2012 and 2014, with focuses on agriculture, alternative energy and medical devices. A group of entrepreneurs from Michigan visited the Netherlands in 2013.

"West Michigan was chosen not only because of our strong Dutch heritage but because of our ongoing business and cultural ties," said Paule Heule, honorary Dutch consul to West Michigan. "We are emphasizing to the people of the Netherlands not only our rich heritage but also the great human and economic resources West Michigan has to offer to strengthen the global ties between our two countries," he told Michigan news outlet MLive.

No details of the Chicago stop were revealed. Both the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox are out of town that week.