“THE Netherlands-Russia year 2013” could have passed pretty much unnoticed . Russia has a habit of declaring years to strengthen bilateral friendships culturally, socially and economically—and nothing much happens. Yet this particular year seems to be different thanks to a diplomatic soap opera. First tensions emerged when the crew of a Greenpeace ship under a Dutch flag was arrested while trying to board a Gazprom drilling rig in the North Sea on September 19th. The 30 crew members were charged with piracy, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. Last week, Russian authorities claimed they had found drugs on the boat. This could lead to a fresh charge. It remains unclear why it took three weeks to “find” the drugs even though the ship was thoroughly inspected on the crew’s arrest and had been searched by sniffer dogs in its last port. The Netherlands has begun an arbitration procedure under the Convention on Law of the Sea.

Things escalated further when Dmitri Borodin, the second in command at the Russian embassy in The Hague (pictured), was arrested in his home last week by Dutch police. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations host countries cannot arrest a diplomat. The Dutch foreign minister, Frans Timmermans, has apologised on behalf of the Dutch State, though made clear he empathised with the officers who were called in after neighbours complained that Mr Borodin was drunk and allegedly physically abusing his children. The mayor of The Hague, a former foreign minister himself, added that the officers had had no choice but to act, based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and police law.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has not taken this lightly. Having first demanded an explanation and apology, the Kremlin now insists the Netherlands arrest the officers who Mr Borodin claims hit him on the head. Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, has made clear that there will be no arrests. In the meantime, a Dutch theatre group, performing in St Petersburg to mark the special bilateral year, was booed off the stage when it raised the issue of gay rights. The Russian association for food standards has threatened to block imports of Dutch tulips and dairy products due to "quality concerns".

Russia and the Netherlands have very different social and cultural backgrounds so the bilateral year was never an obvious love fest. Yet both share a pragmatic approach to business. The current tensions could just be another example of Mr Putin's effective arm-twisting in trade negotiations with smaller nations rather than the pointless bullying that it appears to be.