Netherlands–Russia relations is the relationships between the two countries, the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
, national_anthem = )
, image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg
, map_width = 250px
, image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png
, map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale
, capital = ...
and
The Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
. Russia has an
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, and the Netherlands has an embassy in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, a
consulate
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, and an honorary consulate in
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ( rus, Ю́жно-Сахали́нск, a=Ru-Южно-Сахалинск.ogg, p=ˈjuʐnə səxɐˈlʲinsk, literally "South Sakhalin City") is a city on Sakhalin island, and the administrative center of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. I ...
.
Since the year 2013 the political relations have become strained due to a number of conflicts and incidents, the most prominent being the
annexation of Crimea in 2014, the
shooting down of MH17 in 2014 that killed 193 Dutch nationals, and the
war in Donbass
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
.
In October 2018, the Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Dutch accused four Russians with diplomatic passports for attempting to carry out a cyber-attack in April on the headquarters of
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member ...
in The Hague.
Ank Bijleveld
Anna Theodora Bernardina "Ank" Bijleveld-Schouten (born 17 March 1962) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who has been serving as acting mayor of Almere since 10 January 2022. She served as List of Ministers of Defence ...
told Dutch broadcaster
NPO that the Netherlands is in a state of "cyberwar" with Russia.
History
During the time of Peter the Great
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
whilst on his
tour of western Europe (1697-1698) visited the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and practised as a
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
in
Zaandam
Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Za ...
. During his stay he managed to recruit some Dutch maritime expertise for the newly established
Russian navy. One of the most notable Dutch members of the Russian navy was the Norwegian-born captain
Cornelius Cruys
Cornelius Cruys ( no, Niels Creutz, i=no, russian: Корнелий Крюйс, i=no; 14 June 1655 – 14 June 1727) was a Norwegian–Dutch admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy, and the first commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet.
Early ...
, who after several years of service reached the rank of
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
and became the first commander of the
Baltic Fleet
, image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg
, image_size = 150
, caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign
, dates = 18 May 1703 – present
, country =
, allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present)
...
.
Napoleonic Wars
Tsar
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
The son of ...
played a central role in the restoration of the Netherlands. Alexander promised to support
Prince William
William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales.
Born in London, William was educat ...
and help restore an independent Netherlands with William as king. Russian and Prussian troops drove out the French in 1813.
From the revolution until the Cold War
Since the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, the Netherlands did not have any diplomatic relationships with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
until the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. During the war, the
Dutch government was in exile.
During WW2, 25.000 Dutch volunteers joined the
Waffen SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from th ...
, and fought on the
Eastern front against the Soviet Union. They were not supported by the government in exile.
During the Cold War
During the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, all the Dutch consecutive governments perceived the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and the
Warsaw pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...
as a threat to its safety.
Russian Federation
![Hague Russian embassy with Ukrainian protest flags](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Hague_Russian_embassy_with_Ukrainian_protest_flags.jpg)
As the Netherlands is a member of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, the relation between Russia and the Netherlands is closely related to the
Russia–European Union relations
Russian–European Union relations are the international relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Russia borders five EU member states: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland; the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is surrounded ...
.
In October 2011 president
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
met in the Kremlin with the Prime Minister of Netherlands
Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006.
After a business career working for Unilever ...
to discuss bilateral ties.
Aside from commerce and politics, there have been some notable Dutch influence on
Russian football
Association football is the most popular sport in Russia, since beating ice hockey by a huge margin. Men's football is overseen by the Russian Football Union, having the Russian Premier League as the first tier of the Russian football league s ...
, with
Guus Hiddink
Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...
in 2006–2010 followed by
Dick Advocaat
Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag.
Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...
in 2010–2012 as head coach of the
Russian national team.
In the year 2013 a number of cultural activities took place in the Netherlands and Russia to celebrate 400 years of diplomatic ties. Russian president
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
visited Amsterdam. In October 2013, the ties between the countries were strained when a group of
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
activists were
arrested during a protest on an Arctic oil rig owned by
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
. On October 9, the minister counsellor Dmitri Borodin, working at the Russian embassy in The Hague, was detained after allegations of abusing his children. Dutch minister of foreign affairs
Frans Timmermans
Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''.
Given name
* Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diploma ...
apologized later for the violation of the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. Its aim is to facilitate "the development of friendly relations" among governments ...
. Subsequently, on October 15, the Dutch diplomat Onno Elderenbosch was physically attacked in his apartment in Moscow by two men posing as electricians.
During the
2014 Sochi Olympic Games, Vladimir Putin visited the Holland Heineken House and drank a beer with
King Willem Alexander.
Since March 2014 the Netherlands participated in the
European Union economic sanctions against Russia due to the Ukraine crisis. In August 2014 Russia installed a retaliatory boycott of EU agricultural products.
Relations were further strained when
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...
, an airliner carrying 193 Dutch nationals, was shot down over Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, by a BUK missile launcher. A few years later, a Dutch court found two Russians and a Ukrainian guilty. It is unlikely that these people will serve their sentences.
After the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
started, the Netherlands, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of "
unfriendly nations".
In 2022, Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to protest at what it said was an attempt by British intelligence to recruit the Russian military attache at the Russian embassy in The Hague.
Notable Russians in the Netherlands
*
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
*
Anna Pavlovna of Russia
Anna Pavlovna of Russia (russian: Анна Павловна ; nl, Anna Paulowna ; – 1 March 1865) was a queen of the Netherlands by marriage to king William II of the Netherlands. She was a Russian patriot who upheld a strict royal etiquette ...
*
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...
Notable Dutch in Russia
*
Dick Advocaat
Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag.
Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...
*
Willem Barentsz
Willem Barentsz (; – 20 June 1597), anglicized as William Barents or Barentz, was a Dutch Republic, Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer.
Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northern Sea Route, N ...
*
Cornelius Cruys
Cornelius Cruys ( no, Niels Creutz, i=no, russian: Корнелий Крюйс, i=no; 14 June 1655 – 14 June 1727) was a Norwegian–Dutch admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy, and the first commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet.
Early ...
*
Guus Hiddink
Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...
*
André Kuipers
André Kuipers (; born 5 October 1958) is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut. He became the second Dutch citizen, third Dutch-born and fifth Dutch-speaking astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on 19 April 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth abo ...
astronaut.
*
Karel van het Reve
Karel van het Reve (19 May 1921 – 4 March 1999) was a Dutch writer, translator and literary historian, teaching and writing on Russian literature.
He was born in Amsterdam and was raised as a communist. He lost his 'faith' in his twentie ...
slavicist, essayist, correspondent of the
Parool
''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...
Dutch newspaper in the Soviet Union, ex-communist, influential anti-communist in the Netherlands.
*
Derk Sauer
Derk Sauer is a Dutch media magnate and the founder of ''The Moscow Times''.
Biography
Sauer, a native of Amsterdam, has considered himself a Maoist in the past, having participated in Dutch left wing politics since his youth. He claims that t ...
Dutch entrepreneur, founder of the
Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates su ...
and many other popular magazines in Russia.
*
Andrew Vinius
Andrew Vinius (russian: Андре́й Андре́евич Ви́ниус, ''Andrey Andreyevich Vinius'') (1641–1717) of a Dutch family became a Russian statesman and a friend of Peter the Great. He taught the young Peter European languages. ...
See also
*
Foreign relations of the Netherlands
The foreign policy of the Netherlands is based on four basic commitments: to the Atlantic cooperation, to European integration, to international development and to international law. While historically the Kingdom of the Netherlands was a neut ...
*
Foreign relations of Russia
The foreign relations of the Russian Federation is the policy arm of the Russian government, government of Russia which guides its interactions with other nations, their citizens, and foreign organizations. This article covers the foreign polic ...
*
Russia–EU relations
*
Communist Party of the Netherlands
The Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Communistische Partij Nederland, , CPN) was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party ...
*
Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship case
On 18 September 2013, Greenpeace activists attempted to scale the Prirazlomnaya drilling platform, as part of a protest against Arctic oil production.
The following day, on 19 September 2013, Russian authorities seized the Greenpeace ship the '' ...
*
Czar Peter House (Netherlands)
The Czar Peter House ( nl, Czaar Peterhuisje) is a historical building in Zaandam, the Netherlands. It is best known as the place where Tsar Peter I of Russia resided in 1697 during his Grand Embassy. The building was constructed in 1632.
Pet ...
*
Nicolaes Witsen
Nicolaes Witsen (8 May 1641 – 10 August 1717; modern Dutch: ''Nicolaas Witsen'') was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682 and 1706. In 1693 he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). I ...
*
Sakhalin II
The Sakhalin-2 (russian: Сахалин-2) project is an oil and gas development in Sakhalin Island, Russia. It includes development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye oil field and the Lunskoye natural gas field offshore Sakhalin Island in the Okhotsk ...
*
Vriezenveen
Vriezenveen ( Lower Saxon: t Vjenne, Venne, Vjenne, Vreeznven or Vreeinvenne'') is a town in the municipality of Twenterand in the Dutch province of Overijssel. The population was 13,800 on January 1, 2020.
Until July 1, 2002, Vriezenveen for ...
*
Hermitage Amsterdam
Hermitage Amsterdam is a branch museum of the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the banks of the Amstel river in Amsterdam. The museum is located in the former Amstelhof, a classical style building from 1681. The dependency ...
*
Malaysian Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...
Minorities
*
Russians in the Netherlands
*
Dutchs in Russia
References
External links
Russian embassy in the NetherlandsDutch embassy in MoscowRus tradeRussia trade and economyDutch government website with links to data about Russian-Dutch trade
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netherlands-Russia relations
Bilateral relations of Russia
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...