Happy Bileteral Year?

Netherlands set to lose out on trade of tulips

This end of season was supposed to mark the one year bilateral relationship between the Netherlands and Russia. Now both countries are in an economic squabble that has escalated from a quite comical event. On September 19th, members of the crew of a ship from Dutch environmental campaigners Greenpeace were said to have attempted to disrupt a Gazprom drilling rig in the North Sea by means of trespassing. All the 30 members on board of the ship were arrested and charged with piracy which could lead to a possible 15 year sentence in prison for each one of them.

 

Russian authorities responded to allegations talking of the corruptness of this event by stating that they had found drugs on the boat. I don't think we can entirely trust these comments as they were released a full three weeks after the event and prior to the arrival at the drilling rig, the ship had undergone a thorough search in which sniffer dogs were used. If the accusations are found to be true by the Russian Court, further charges could still await these crew members.

 

Coincidentally, just last week Dmitri Borodin, the second in command at the Russian embassy in The Hague, was arrested by Dutch police under reports by 'neighbours' that he was highly intoxicated and was physically abusing his children. This situation caused shock and tension as a host nation cannot arrest a diplomat under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. However Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans, who is currently the mayor of The Hague, claimed that officers had had no choice but to act, based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and police law.

 

Russian President, Vladmir Putin has obviously failed to see the 'misunderstanding' of that particular affair by insisting that all the officers involved with the arrest of Mr Borodin should be charged with immediate effect for their unreasonable and unjustifiable actions. Dutch authorities have confirmed that no arrests have been made so far and no more are planned. When this became known to the world press, Putin then said that he would have to stop the economic trade of tulips, yes tulips, with the Netherlands. But don't worry, this has no association with past events and is actually down to 'quality concerns'.

 

Putin has come under many scrutiny over the years due to his military approach in regards to social and economical issues and the way in which he makes his personal views known to the media. Most think that this is another distraction put out by Putin to take attention away from him after the recent calamity concerning him and gay rights.

 

To be honest, I think the true reason behind this threat of economic sanction is because Mr Putin is an unconfessed lover of tulips.. and who doesn't love a bargain.