Prime Minister Mark Rutte and four ministers are in New York from Monday for the General Assembly of the United Nations. King Willem-Alexander will address the General Assembly on Tuesday.
This week is sometimes described as the annual fair of international diplomacy. Numerous heads of government and heads of state come to the headquarters of the peoples organization for this occasion.
Rutte takes part in a climate summit where the progress of the climate agreements made in Paris is discussed. He also has a meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres and a series of discussions with other government leaders.
In addition to Rutte, there are also ministers Stef Blok (Foreign Affairs), Sigrid Kaag (Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation), Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Water Management) and Bruno Bruins (Medical Care and Sport) at the UN. The prime ministers of Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten also belong to the delegation.
Queen Máxima is also present. She is a special envoy of the UN and in that position has been trying for ten years to improve access to financial services for women so that they can start a business, for example. A special event has been organized to celebrate the anniversary.
Together with his Iraqi colleague, Minister Blok is organizing a meeting to discuss the trial of IS fighters. The Netherlands wants to try it before a tribunal in Iraq. Other European countries support this proposal. The fact that Iraq knows the death penalty is a major obstacle to the arrival of such an international court.
https://www.rd.nl/vandaag/politiek/rutte-naar-diplomatieke-jaarmarkt-1.1596257