Willem-Alexander

The annual Christmas speech by King Willem-Alexander from his residential palace Huis ten Bosch was watched by over 1.5 million people in its various broadcasts on Wednesday, according to figures from Stichting Kijkonderzoek, AD reports.

Below follows the full text of King Willem-Alexander's annual Christmas speech for 2019, translated from Dutch. The NL Times has also written about the address, in comparison to his previous Christmas Day speeches.

The Dutch economy is strong and the outlook for next year remains positive, but risks are looming from abroad, Dutch King Willem-Alexander said in his Budget Day speech for 2019. 

"A strong economy is needed to further build on a strong Netherlands", King Willem-Alexander started his speech on Tuesday. The outlook for next year remains, positive, but the reality is that the growth will level out in the coming years. "Our economy is sensitive to international developments such as trade wars and the Brexit", the King warned.

Five years ago today Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch. The victims of this disaster were commemorated at the National MH17 Monument in Vijfhuizen on Wednesday afternoon. 

After opening the new Museum Sophiahof in The Hague on Thursday, King Willem-Alexander stopped to speak to a group of demonstrators protesting against the opening of the museum, which focuses on the cultural and historical legacy of the Dutch East Indies. The protesters are descendants of soldiers and civil servants who worked under the administration of the then Dutch East Indies, but never received salary during the Japanese occupation between 1942 and 1945, NOS reports.

King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Mark Rutte are attending the Bilderberg Meetings in Montreux, Switzerland this weekend. The Bilderberg Meetings are an informal discussion between important people in Europe and North America. A total of some 130 people will attend, including politicians, directors of multinationals, influential media and large institutions like the United Nations. 

King Willem-Alexander and Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management visited Arnhem on Tuesday morning to see what measures the municipality is taking to make the city resilient to extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change. Arnhem residents have been confronted by flooding rainwater multiple times in recent years, and there are areas in the city where residents experience so-called heat stress. 

The Netherlands remembered the victims of the Second World War with commemorations across the country on Saturday. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte attended the National Commemoration in Amsterdam on Saturday evening. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema stressed that the the lack of freedom during the war must be passed on so that it can be remembered "as if the war were yesterday. Even if no one remembers what it is like to live in an occupied country", Het Parool reports. 

Some 45 thousand people braved the rain and cold on Saturday to spend King's Day with the Royal family in Amersfoort. Mayor Lucas Bolsuis called it "a fantastic King's Day". King Willem-Alexander spoke of a "fantastic birthday party", the Telegraaf reports.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are shocked by seemingly coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, they said in a released statement. A total of 290 people were killed. Among them were at least 35 foreign tourists, including at least one woman from the Netherlands, a spokesperson for the local police said on Monday morning, AD reports.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima expressed their shock about a shooting in Utrecht that left three people killed and five injured on Monday. Their sympathies are with the victims, and their thoughts with the residents of Utrecht, they said in a statement on the Koninklijk Huis website. A number of world leaders also expressed condolences and support.