A couple of Russian activists pelted King of the Netherlands with rotten tomatoes during his visit to the Moscow Conservatory. The instigators of the attack were detained despite the fruits falling short of their illustrious targets.
The two attackers were members of a banned Russian opposition
party who allegedly performed the stunt in protest over the death
of Russian Opposition activist Aleksandr Dolmatov who committed
suicide while in a Rotterdam deportation center earlier this
year.
“Dolmatov's blood is on your hands!” the National Bolshevik
Party activists shouted at the Dutch King, according to
eyewitnesses.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife were not
harmed, as the projectiles fell nowhere near them, and carried on
with their official engagements.
The attackers, Viktoria Kuznetsova and Denis Kudryavtsev,
according to reports, were quickly detained and escorted away in
a police van to Krasnopresnenskaya’s police station, according to
Other Russia party leader, Sergey Aksenov. The unregistered
National Bolshevik Party was banned in Russia for extremist
ideas, and its organizers created the Other Russia Party from its
ashes in 2010.
Opposition activist Aleksandr Dolmatov applied for political
asylum in the Netherlands after fleeing to the country. The Dutch
authorities rejected the request, and placed him in a Rotterdam
detention center while he awaited return to Russia. He was found
dead in January this year, having killed himself in his cell.
While in Russia, Dolmatov had been an active member of Other
Russia and had been arrested after being accused of involvement
in the Bolotnaya Square riots in Moscow on May 6, 2012. He was
released, but left Russia in June fearing he would be arrested
again. After his death, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded an
“immediate and full investigation of the incident.”
The Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife, Queen Maxima, have
been rounding off a two-day visit to Russia to mark the 400th
anniversary of Russian-Dutch relations as part of a “Year of
Friendship” between the two countries.
While the visit has been overshadowed by recent diplomatic
problems, discussions of issues, such as the detention of
Greenpeace activists, would not be part of talks as the Dutch
king does not involve himself in direct political negotiations,
Putin’s aide, Yury Ushakov, told reporters.
On Wednesday, the Netherlands demanded that Russia free all 30
Arctic Sunrise activists, taking the case to an international
tribunal. Russia has rejected participation in the process, with
Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich saying that
“Russia has counter complaints against The Hague in connection
with this incident. The current situation has, to a significant
extent, been caused by Dutch negligence.”
Lukashevich added that “it was known that the ship arrived in
Russia’s economic zone with the intention of committing a
crime,” he said.
The detention of Russian diplomat, Dmitry Borodin, in the
Netherlands caused uproar in Russia, increasing tensions between
Russia and the Netherlands even further. Borodin was arrested and beaten by local police in
violation of his diplomatic immunity. The Dutch media suggested
he was taken in over mistreatment of his children reported by
neighbors.
Borodin’s Dutch counterpart, Onno Elderenbosch, later was attacked in Moscow when people disguised as
electricians broke into his house, beat him up, and daubed ‘LGBT’
across a mirror in red lipstick, according to media reports. The
Dutch Foreign Minister claimed on Tuesday that “victims”
of the Russian “anti-gay propaganda law” could receive
political asylum in the Netherlands, fueling tensions.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov and his counterpart in
the Netherlands discussed the situation surrounding both the
Greenpeace ship and recent incidents involving Russian and Dutch
diplomats on Friday. A follow-up meeting on Saturday was
rescheduled over Lavrov’s last minute decision to join the talks
on Iran’s nuclear program in Geneva.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his
satisfaction with the way talks with the King have proceeded up
to this point, “in spite of some limitations in the diplomatic
service.” The King also expressed his wish that
“everything can be resolved in the spirit of friendship.”