By Roy Lie Atjam
On November 29, 2022, the Embassy of Romania The Hague organized a reception dedicated to the National Day of Romania or Great Union Day. The event was at the Photo Museum Den Haag and was attended by Dutch officials, the business community, Diplomats and the Romania diaspora.
H.E. Ambassador Lucian Fătu addressed his guests in Dutch and English.
“ We are together again, after two years of health restrictions that have proven direct interaction to be even more valuable than we thought before. But this is not, unfortunately, the only, or even the most significant change in our professional and personal lives. On this National Day, Romanians think back to the day, December 1st 1918, when our modern state was created thru the will of the people. But today is not about festivism, but about coming together to face common threats to peace, freedom and the fundamental right to life.
Russia’s illegal, unjustified and unprovoked aggression against neighboring Ukraine came as a blow to some of us, as the inexorable end of a fuse to a bomb others were aware of, and as a rallying cry to all of us. Romania responded firmly and multi-dimensionally in support of Ukraine and its citizens, including thru politico-diplomatic, economic, financial, humanitarian and sectoral efforts. We stand in solidarity and active support to the Republic of Moldova, one of the worst-hit regional collateral victims of this conflict, by proportional size.
These days are very intense for the Romanian diplomacy. As we speak, the Foreign Ministers of the NATO countries meet in Bucharest. For the first time, advanced NATO candidates Finland and Sweden are present as guests. Special sessions will be attended by Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Republic of Moldova. A G7 meeting is hosted in the margins of the NATO Ministerial. At the same time, high representatives of the Munich Security Conference convene in Bucharest in preparation of this forum’s meeting next February, one year after the start of the Russian invasion.
Let us take a moment and remember, every day, that the only rights we have are those we are ready to defend at all costs. And we all know that The Hague, city of justice and peace, is one of the focal points where the international community comes together under the flags of the institutions serving these goals, and it is for all of us, with or without diplomatic passports, to come together, look around and think ahead.
To close, let me recognize tonight the human dimension of the Romanian-Netherlands relations, inspired by common values and aspirations and creating the bedrock of our multi-faceted sectoral cooperation. Each and everyone of the Romanian professionals, students and academics living here for longer or shorter periods of time, each of the many Romanian tourists who visit this country feels connected to the Dutch society and proud to be recognized as EU citizen sharing equal rights and obligations under our common European identity.
I would like to end these brief remarks in the words of one of the pillars of Romanian diplomacy, Nicolae Titulescu, the only twice elected President of the League of Nations: “Europe is no longer a collection of states. It is a state divided into separate parts through administrative measures embodied by frontiers.” The year was 1922.
Please join me in a toast to peace, freedom and diversity, in honor of Romania, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the countries here represented! “
