Ukrainian-Dutch relations

Diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Ukrainian People’s Republic were established in 1919 ^[1] (the UPR diplomatic mission was opened on February 19 and the UPR diplomatic office was opened on February 3, the UPR press office was later opened, and the Consul General of the Netherlands in Kiev was appointed on January 20 ^{[1] ]} ), however, official recognition of the UPR did not happen (the Netherlands was awaiting recognition by France , Great Britain and Italy ) ^[1] . Despite this, the staff of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in the Netherlands was exempted from registration with the police, which was mandatory for all foreigners, and without obstacles received visas for entry and exit from the country; since 1920, the UNR diplomatic mission began issuing diplomatic visas as a “Ukrainian delegation”; at the request of the Ukrainian mission, diplomatic visas were issued to Ukrainian ambassadors, mission chairmen and ministers without obstacles to enter the Netherlands; it was allowed to issue passports to Ukrainian citizens (they were sighted by Dutch institutions and recognized as valid for staying in the Netherlands); the passports issued by the Ukrainian representative in the Netherlands were endorsed by the British, American, Belgian, Swiss and French consuls; The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and other official institutions formally addressed the Ukrainian diplomatic mission; special maps of Ukraine were printed in school atlases of 1919-1920 ^[1] .

Initially, the Dutch Foreign Ministry officially refused to recognize the diplomatic mission of Ukraine, but other Dutch ministries unofficially considered the mission as the representative of Ukraine in the country, and later the Dutch Foreign Ministry began to reckon with the mission as the official representative of the UPR. In the Netherlands, the Ukrainian question was supported by the overwhelming majority of political parties and groups, except for the Communist Party (Dutch political circles generally had a negative attitude to the imperialist policy of the Bolsheviks, therefore they “sympathized” with the Ukrainians in their liberation struggle - for example, at the Amsterdam international socialist conference held on April 25, 1920 , representatives of the Dutch socialists voted for the official recognition of the UPR). Personally sympathized with the UPR, the head of the Council of Ministers Charles Royce de Berenbrauk and the head of the Second House of the General States, Dionysius Adrianus Petrus Norbertus Coolen, who were members of the Catholic Party ^[1] .

An important factor in relations between the UPR and the Netherlands was the Dutch Mennonites , of which there were 60,000 - 80,000 people in Ukraine. In the summer of 1917, the Mennonite associations of Yekaterinoslav , Kherson and Northern Tavria recognized the Ukrainian Central Rada and the struggle of Ukrainians for state independence. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities guaranteed Mennonite communities state support in the economic and cultural spheres - the UPR in its domestic policy adhered to the democratic principle of the right to free development of any national community living in Ukraine. The Dutch political circles were extremely grateful to the Ukrainian government for the custody of the Mennonites, in connection with which the UPR diplomatic mission in 1919 was quite easy to establish its work and open its own press bureau, which informed the Dutch society about the events in Ukraine ^[1] .

One of the main tasks of the Ukrainian mission was the liberation of Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were in the Netherlands. To help Ukrainian prisoners of war who came to Belgium and the Netherlands from the German army, the UPR government allocated 20,000 Karbovans . Thanks to the request of Ukrainian diplomats, 80 Ukrainian prisoners of war were sent from Holland to Ukraine in 1919 to whom Ukrainian passports and means of travel were issued ^[1] .

The Dutch side expressed hope for the establishment of mutually beneficial economic relations with the UPR, in particular, in 1919, the Netherlands ministries of trade and industry placed considerable hopes on establishing economic ties with Ukraine. In 1920, the UNR representative office published and sent out brochures and bulletins on possible economic cooperation with Ukraine, in turn, the Dutch Foreign Ministry expressed interest in the possibility of delivering bread to its state, and several large shipping companies in Rotterdam turned to the UNR diplomatic mission to establish a transport line “ Rotterdam- Odessa ”to establish trade relations, setting the condition for the liberation of Odessa from the Bolsheviks (in those days, the Netherlands took third place in the world in the number of ships, second only to the United Kingdom and the United States). Economic projects of Ukrainian-Dutch trade groups on the supply and exchange of goods between states were drawn up, but neither the Ukrainian government nor cooperatives responded to these proposals in a timely manner ^[1] .

The UPR diplomatic mission in the Netherlands ceased operations on April 1, 1922 due to the cessation of funding ^[1] .

Heads of the diplomatic mission of Ukraine in the Netherlands:

• Andrey Yakovlev , part-time head of the diplomatic mission of Ukraine in Belgium . Appointed on January 19, 1919 ^[1] .

Consul General of the Netherlands in Kiev:

• Dr. Timon Heinrich Fokker . Appointed on January 20, 1919 ^[1] .

The independence of Ukraine from the USSR was recognized by the Netherlands (as well as other members of the European Community ) on December 21, 1991. Diplomatic relations between them were established on April 1, 1992. The Netherlands Embassy in Ukraine was opened in the autumn of 1992, and in the summer of 1993 the Ukrainian Embassy in the Benelux countries was established. In 2002, the Hague opened an independent embassy of Ukraine in the Netherlands ^[2] .

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of Ukraine in the Benelux countries:

• Vladimir Vasilenko , part-time representative of Ukraine to the European Community and NATO . Appointed in 1993 ^[2] ;
• Boris Tarasyuk , part-time representative of Ukraine to NATO . Appointed in 1995;
• Konstantin Grishchenko , part-time representative of Ukraine to NATO and the OPCW . Appointed in 1998;
• Volodymyr Khandogiy , part-time representative of Ukraine to NATO and the OPCW . Appointed in 2000;

Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Netherlands:

• Dmitry Markov , part-time representative of Ukraine at the OPCW . Appointed in 2002;
• Alexander Kupchishin , part-time representative of Ukraine at the OPCW . Appointed in 2005;
• Vasily Korzachenko , part-time representative of Ukraine at the OPCW . Appointed in 2008;
• Ilya Kvas , part-time representative of Ukraine at the OPCW . Appointed in 2010 (acting);
• Alexander Gorin , part-time representative of Ukraine at the OPCW . Appointed in 2011;
• Vsevolod Chentsov , part-time representative of Ukraine at the OPCW . Appointed in 2017.

Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands to Ukraine:

• Robert Serry Appointed in 1992 ^[2] ;
• Onno Gatting Van't Sant . Appointed in 1997;
• Monique Frank Appointed in 2001;
• Ronald Keller Appointed in 2005;
• Peter Ian Volters . Appointed in 2009;
• Case Klompenhauver . Appointed in 2013.

• The referendum in the Netherlands on the association between the European Union and Ukraine