King Willem-Alexander will give speech on slavery commemoration, apology to be expected

The Dutch King Willem-Alexander will give a speech on July 1 in Amsterdam on the occasion of the commemoration of the abolition of slavery. In this regard, according to sources, the king will use this day of remembrance, also called Keti Koti, to apologize for slavery on behalf of the government. However, this has not yet been finalized. Preparations for the speech on July 1 are underway, reports RTL Nieuws.

On this day it is 150 years ago that slavery was practically abolished in Suriname and the Caribbean part of the Dutch Kingdom. Ten years ago, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima attended the commemoration of the abolition of slavery but did not give a speech.

The fact that the Dutch king is now taking this step shows that he wants to advance the "healing process" of the Netherlands concerning its colonial past. In this regard, King Willem-Alexander shared in the podcast "Through the Eyes of the King" with radio DJ Edwin Evers that “It is the beginning of a process that will take a lot of time, which will go through many conversations and where many emotions will play a role," RTL Nieuws wrote.

Earlier, Prime Minister Rutte apologized for the Netherlands' colonial past regarding slavery after an increasing number of organizations drew attention to it. Resentment was steadily growing that the Netherlands had not apologized to many former colonies, such as Suriname, and that the slavery past had not been adequately addressed. As a result, on December 19, 2022, Rutte issued an official apology on behalf of the government for Netherlands' slavery past.