Dutch taxpayers pay lots for royal mansion in Greece

The Dutch king's mansion in Greece

This photo shows the Dutch king’s mansion in Kranidi in Greece.

Translated from Hart voor Nederland TV in the Netherlands:

Land around king’s villa costs the government almost half a million

Published: Today 07:28

The Dutch state had to pay 461,000 euros for the lease of two strips of land surrounding the villa of King Willem-Alexander in Greece. The amount was paid last year to a neighbour to put a security fence on that ground. This is evident from documents which RTL News holds.

The deal with the neighbour was closed by a Greek lawyer commissioned by Minister Opstelten (Justice Department) to negotiate to get the land at any price. A year after Willem-Alexander bought the house nearly half a million was paid by the government for the lease.

The actual market value of the land, according to the document, is only 35.414 euros. Prime Minister Rutte did not tell Parliament about the lease amount.

Why the fence was put on the neighbour’s land is unclear. The Dutch government information department says about it to RTL news: “This land is needed for security measures by the government. For security reasons there is utmost restraint in information about the way of providing security. Therefore, nothing more will be said.”

According to RTL news, Prime Minister Rutte had refused to reply to questions from Parliament about the cost for taxpayers of the royal villa in Greece. Rutte had claimed the mansion was ‘a private issue devoid of public interest’.

So, Dutch taxpayers pay for one royal neighbour’s financial windfall. Meanwhile, the Greek people and the Greek environment lose because of the privatisation of Greek coastal areas to royals and other rich people.

Dutck king accused of illegal harbour near his mansion: here.

Dutch royals buy 700,000 euro speedboat: here.