state visit of the Dutch royal couple to Suriname. “We accept the apologies and the request for forgiveness,” said a representative of Fiti Makandra, an organization that consists of local traditional and Indigenous leaders. “We strongly believe that the king truly and with a clear conscience wants to cooperate with the reconciliation and recovery process of the descendants in Suriname.”

In 2023 the kind offered his apologies for the Dutch involvement in slavery. He also asked for forgiveness for the role that his ancestors played in the slave trade. Those apologies were not repeated in Suriname but a plaquette with the words of the King printed on it was unveiled. The Surinamese government also unveiled a plaquette which states that together with the Netherlands it wants to process the past. Prior to the conversation King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima attended a traditional ceremony that was aimed at letting go of the past. The king labeled the ritual that was held along the shore of the Suriname River as “extraordinary.” The Dutch state visit is the first one as there had not been any Dutch royals in Suriname for the past 47 years. The last time a Dutch royal visited Suriname was in 1978. Queen Juliana paid a state visit to Suriname 3 years after Suriname had gained its independence.