King and Prime Minister Jetten to visit Sint Eustatius for 250th anniversary of the First Salute
ORANJESTAD – King Willem-Alexander, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and State Secretary Eric van der Burg for Kingdom Relations and Effective Government will visit Sint Eustatius in November. They will attend the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of The First Salute on Monday, 16 November. This was announced by the Government Information Service.
Ahead of the commemoration, a celebration will take place on Sunday evening, 15 November, at Fort Orange. The official ceremony will be held on Monday morning, on Statia Day, the island’s annual public holiday.
On 16 November 1776, Fort Orange returned the salute of the American ship Andrew Doria with cannon fire. The United States regard this as the first recognition of their independence by a foreign power.
The salute was fired just months after the American Declaration of Independence, while the War of Independence was still ongoing.
