The Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok, and President Mandela watch as Mr Mandela's wife, Ms Graca Machel , releases a white dove in The Hague, yesterday. In the Netherlands for a two-day visit, the first leg of a trip to express gratitude to supporters of the anti-apartheid movement, the South African President yesterday appealed to the Netherlands and other European nations for economic ties to help cement his country's fledgling democracy.
"In the end our democracy will always be fragile and our rights lacking in content unless they bring material improvements in the lives of especially the poor," Mr Mandela declared to the Dutch parliament.
Mr Mandela thanked the Dutch for their efforts in negotiating a trade agreement between the EU and South Africa but urged ministers to apply pressure on those countries, which include Spain and Portugal, that had blocked the accord.
Mr Mandela and his wife, Ms Machel, were warmly welcomed throughout their trip, with thousands of people turning out to wave, sing and cheer them on.
"There are those who were with us when everybody in the world shunned us," Mr Mandela said.
"The government and the people of the Netherlands are unique in the sense that they were in the forefront in giving us humanitarian support, which enabled our people in exile and their children to go to school and equip themselves with the most effective weapon - education."
However, he pleaded with the Dutch parliament not to halt its support now that the racist regime had ended.
"The freedom of the people of South Africa is also your victory.
"But freedom must always be defended and extended. We need those who were our allies in struggle to be our partners in giving material content to our freedom," he stressed.
Although Mr Mandela and Mr Kok were tight-lipped about the issue, both men are expected to discuss the measures taken to pave the way for the trial of the two men accused of carrying out the bombing of a Pan-Am flight over Lockerbie in 1988. A total of 270 people died in the attack.