A Stranger Reached Dutch King Willem-Alexander in Ursem: Security Stepped In, and the King Stopped to Listen to Him

King Willem-Alexander visited Ursem, a small town in the north of the Netherlands, on Friday. Hundreds of people were waiting to greet him, and he was surrounded by security and police. And it was right through that cordon that one man headed straight for the king.

Tom Jurriaans, a reporter for local TV station NH Nieuws who was at the scene, described the man as "perhaps a little disoriented". Agents intercepted him in time. But before the police led him away, the king spoke with him briefly. The man said he had come from Hoogwoud and needed help because, in his view, radiation from radars was harming him.

The king was visibly taken aback at first, but quickly composed himself and tried to calm the situation. The crowd was frightened too. The police then asked the man to come with them and led him away from the spot. Whether there will be legal consequences is not known. Local press reports that the man has mental health problems.

The rest of the visit went off without a hitch, with a warm welcome from the residents. But the question remains: if a man seeking protection from radars can reach the king through hundreds of people and a wall of police, how solid is that wall really?

On the other hand, the king didn't hide behind his bodyguards. He stopped and listened to the man, and only then handed him over to the police. How many officials in the Balkans would stop for a citizen who approached them unannounced?