Greek Ministers Bent Rules for Dutch Royals?

A row has erupted in Greece about the possible involvement of three government ministers in the sanctioning of illegal building work on the Dutch royal family’s new holiday home.

The Greek media are full of stories about the building of a private harbor on the estate, outside the village of Kranidi on the Peloponnese. The harbor would give the family direct access to the sea. There are claims that various laws have been broken to make it possible to build the harbor and to fence the estate off from the surrounding area.

According to the reports, ministers of Environment (deputy) Stavros Kalafatis, Citizen Protection (former), Nikos Dendias and Maritime, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis signed a bill that allows for the construction of lodges and a harbor by the sea next to the royal family's summer home. This has been done out of ‘public safety’ considerations but questions are being asked about what aspects of public safety are being served, according to newspaper reports.

King Willem-Alexander bought the €4.5m holiday house on the Greek coast in 2012. The royal couple were forced to sell their first holiday home on a luxury complex in Mozambique following a wave of negative publicity about the project, including claims of corruption, environmental damage and a lack of benefits for the local population.