AMSTERDAM — The marriage of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Argentine Maxima has led to more Dutch-Argentine relationships, it has been claimed.

Princess Maxima, her husband and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands begin a three-day State Visit to Argentina on Thursday.

Dutch Ambassador to Argentina, Robert Jan van Houtum, said there has been an increase in the number of Dutch people marrying Argentine citizens since Willem-Alexander and Maxima started their relationship. They married in February 2002. Van Houtum has no figures to support his claims.

He said the rate of Dutch-Argentine marriages has picked up again as the economic crisis in Argentina has begun to ease. The royal relationship has also stimulated political, economic and social contacts between the countries.

“The contacts before this were never so intensive. They mainly involved trading interests. Dutch dredgers were active here and Dutch people developed ports. Politically, however, there was never real interest,” he said.

The two countries have really “discovered” each other since the royal marriage and there has been a strong increase in tourism from the Netherlands.

Van Houtum said Argentina is on the right road in terms of human rights, one of the themes of the Royal Visit. Toleration is also on the increase, with a “substantial” growth in person freedom for gay people, he said.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2006]

Subject: Dutch news