Europe

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits Netherlands

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte greets Indonesian President Joko Widodo for an official breakfast on Friday, April 22, 2016, at Rutte’s official residence, the Catshuis in The Hague, The Netherlands. Widodo was visiting the Netherlands to drum up trade and investment and hold bilateral meetings with government ministers. (AP Photo/Mike Corder) (The Associated Press)

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, left, greets Indonesian President Joko Widodo for an official breakfast on Friday, April 22, 2016, at Rutte’s official residence, the Catshuis in The Hague, The Netherlands. Widodo was visiting the Netherlands to drum up trade and investment and hold bilateral meetings with government ministers. (AP Photo/Mike Corder) (The Associated Press)

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte greets Indonesian President Joko Widodo for an official breakfast on Friday, April 22, 2016, at Rutte’s official residence, the Catshuis in The Hague, The Netherlands. Widodo was visiting the Netherlands to drum up trade and investment and hold bilateral meetings with government ministers. (AP Photo/Mike Corder) (The Associated Press)

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has started an official visit to the Netherlands with a working breakfast with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the signing of two pacts intensifying cooperation between their countries.

Widodo's visit Friday is the first by a leader of the former Dutch colony since Abdurraham Wahid in 2000. In 2010, then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono canceled a visit at the last minute amid moves by a separatist group to have him arrested for alleged human rights violations.

Separatists from the Maluku region of Indonesia who have long lived in the Netherlands sought to speak with Widodo during his visit Friday, but said this week that the Dutch government had not responded to their request to set up a meeting.