By Jhr. Mr. Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice in the Court of Appeal and Special Advisor International Affairs of the Municipality of the City of The Hague
In the first six months of 2014 the King received the credentials of nine new ambassadors living in The Hague area. I will introduce them to you briefly.
On January 8th H.E. Mr. Khalid Fahad Al-Kather (1966) of Qatar was the first one this year. He studied in the USA and in the UK. Lately he worked as ambassador-at-large at the Climate Change Conference.
The new Turkish ambassador H.E. Mr. Sadik Arslan (1968) was the same day the second. He worked at the Turkish consulte in Jeddah and in the Turkish embassies in Tel Aviv, London and Riyadh. The Hague is his first post as ambassador.
On March 2nd the new ambassador of Bangladesh presented his credentials: H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Belal (1964). He studied in Australia and USA (Harvard) and worked at the embassies in Canberra, Kuala Lumpur, Washington and Tashkent. Lately he was Director-General of the MFA.
On March 19th H.E. Mr. Timothy Michel Broas (1954) presented his credentials as the new USA ambassador, only a few days before the arrival of President Obama for the Nuclear Security Summit. He worked since 1978 as an attorney-at-law in Washington DC.
On April 2nd the new Spanish ambassador H.E. Mr. Fernando Arias González (1952) presented his credentials. He worked at the embassy in The Hague before (in the eighties) and has a Dutch wife from The Hague. This is his fifth post as ambassador.
The same day the new Iranian ambassador H.E. Mr. Alireza Jahangiri (1969) presented his credentials. After his PhD in the UK in 2006 he worked at the MFA in Teheran, lately as Director-General International Law.
On May 7th three ambassadors presented their credentials to the King.
First H.E. Mr. Igor Popov (1963) of Macedonia, who worked from 1992 to 1994 in Eindhoven in The Netherlands. From 1995 he worked for the MFA in Washington and Istanbul and was lately ambassador in Slovenia.
Then H.E. Mr. Joseph Cole (1955) of Malta, who worked from 1977 to 1985 and from 1998 for the MFA: as diplomat in Sydney and London and as ambassador in Washinghton, being also High Commissioner in Canada. Lately he was Secretary General of the MFA.
Last but not least H.E. Dr. Joe Tony Aidoo (1947) of Ghana, who studied in London and USA and worked since 1980 in Ghana itself in universities, at the MFA and for the President. From 1999 to 2001 he was Deputy Minister of Defence.
Gentlemen: welcome tot The Netherlands !
