King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands visited the Zenon Coordination Centre and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Larnaca, today, Tuesday, 4 March 2025, accompanied by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos. The royal couple is paying Cyprus an official visit, at the invitation of the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the visit, the Royal Couple of the Netherlands toured the facilities of the Zenon Coordination Centre and the JRCC and were briefed on the critical role the Centre plays in search and rescue in the Eastern Mediterranean.
It is added that the Royal couple were briefed on the National Plan “ESTIA”, which concerns crisis management and evacuation of civilians from crisis areas, as well as on the recent civilian evacuation operations from the region, while the annual Multinational Civil-Military Cooperation Exercise “ARGONAUT”, one of the largest multinational search and rescue exercises in the region, was also presented.
“The visit of the King and Queen of the Netherlands to the Zenon Coordination Centre and the JRCC underlined the importance of Cyprus-Dutch cooperation on security and humanitarian aid issues, as well as the pivotal role of Cyprus as a pillar of stability in the region,” the statement concludes.
