You're right, they don't really fit culturally (I'm Dutch). It was a forged marriage: At the time of the merger, KLM was not making profit and had a debt, and Air France was making a small loss and had a good financial position. Now, KLM is making much more profit than Air France with fewer aircraft.
Surprising that the French minister Bruno Le Maire responds in this way, because the Dutch government has been pressing France to sell its shares for some time already. The French have refused. So the Dutch government decided to also buy a share. Now the French talk of hostility...