H.E. Ambassador Luis Vassy, Permanent Representative of the French Republic to the OPCW, and H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, OPCW Director-General.
France provides further support to the work of the OPCW’s special missions and contingency operations in the Syrian Arab Republic
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – 10 May 2021 – The Government of France is contributing €1M toward supporting the activities of the Trust Fund for Syria Missions at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The Fund supports the Organisation’s special missions and contingency operations related specifically to the Syrian Arab Republic. France’s new contribution aims to assist in full elimination of the Syrian Chemical Weapons Programme and clarification of facts related to the alleged use of chemical weapons, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and relevant decisions of the policy-making organs of the OPCW. The contribution will support the work of the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT) and the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM).
The voluntary contribution was formalised on 7 May by the Permanent Representative of the French Republic to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Luis Vassy, and OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, at the Organisation’s headquarters in The Hague.
Ambassador Vassy remarked: “I am really pleased to make this year a further significant contribution to the activities of the OPCW in Syria in order to enable its mechanisms to pursue independently their investigations. It is in line with France’s steadfast determination to put an end to the threat of chemical weapons in Syria, which is fundamentally unacceptable – as the Conference of State Parties recently reaffirmed in adopting the decision tabled by my delegation on behalf of 46 countries.”
The Director-General expressed his gratitude to the Government of France and noted: “This contribution will help the OPCW to continue its vital work in Syria where both the DAT and FFM face a host of issues that require a coordinated international response to ensure that the norms and principles of the Chemical Weapons Convention are upheld.”
In the picture H.E. Dr. Hisham Al Alawi, Ambassador of Iraq.
By Tereza Neuwirthová
On May 6th, the Embassy of Iraq in The Hague organised a special ceremony for the return of seven archaeological objects from a Dutch private collector to the Iraqi government.
During this ceremony, the artefacts were handed over by H.E. Mr Arjen Uijterlinde, Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Barbara Siregar, Director of the Information and Heritage Inspectorate to the Iraqi ambassador, H.E. Dr. Hisham Al Alawi.
H.E. Mr Arjen Uijterlinde, Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All of the objects are expressions of Mesopotamian culture, and are of great value given that the region Mesopotamia was recognised as the cradle of modern civilisation.
The cultural remnants include foundation cones, or large clay tablets that used to be placed in the walls of buildings or buried in the foundations of temples, as well as two very rare figurines. One is a representation of a ram and was used as an amulet, a stamp or a seal, and the second is a figure of Halaf –the mother goddess– that was used in sacrifice rituals.
Restored Iraqi art.
The items appeared in an auction house, where they were offered by a Dutch private collector. Following an inquiry, The Information and Heritage Inspectorate, jointly with an expert from the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities led an investigation that confirmed that the objects came from Iraq.
The private collector gave up the items as he was not aware of their exact origin, and is now glad to see their return to Iraq.
Returned objet to Iraq
A safe restoration to the country is essential, since all of the returned objects are protected under Iraqi cultural heritage legislation, as well as listed on the International Council of Museums’ red lists.
These lists include objects that are vulnerable to theft, plundering and illegal export from their countries of origin. In the Iraqi case, the ban on trade in its heritage prohibits selling the objects of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific and religious importance that were designated as protected.
Ceremony for the return of seven archaeological objects from a Dutch private collector to the Iraqi government.
Similarly, in line with the UN Security Council resolution establishing a system of sanctions to protect Iraq’s cultural heritage, these objects are protected under the Iraq Sanctions Order 2004 II. This system has been implemented in European law, and therefore the Iraqi government requested the Dutch government to return the artefacts of high historical and cultural significance.
Barbara Siregar, Director of the Information and Heritage Inspectorate.
This return, which took place during the ceremony held at the Iraqi embassy in The Hague, was authorised with a transfer document that was signed by the Ambassador HE Al-Alawi and Mr. Uijterlinde.
Signing the documents to transfer the object to the Iraqi authorities.
On April 17th, the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in the Kingdom of the Netherlands hosted a virtual conference with the theme ’27 Years After the Genocide Against the Tutsi: How Can We End Genocide Denial?’ The event was part of the 27th commemoration of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda, known as ‘Kwibuka27’.
The online conference attempted to answer critical questions relating to the topic of genocide denial namely, it’s definition and its various forms, how it is understood in the context of international rights and freedoms, ways of effectively preventing genocide denial for present and future generations and the role can accountability for the crime of genocide itself play the fight against genocide denial and finally given the steady rise of genocide denial in the world and the fact that Rwanda and few other countries have adopted laws to criminalize the denial of the genocide against the Tutsi, should other countries adopt similar legislations?
The moderator of the conference was Ms. Diana Mpyisi, Founder and Managing Director of Blue Oceans, a media and communications consultancy firm and host of The Square, a weekly current affairs English show on Rwanda Television.
Ms. Diana Mpyisi.
In his welcoming remarks the host of the conference, H.E. Mr. Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, re-iterated that after 27 years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, there is still a need to better understand the concept of genocide denial.
“We have indeed been witnessing a resurgence of genocide denial under many forms. Denial is no longer limited to genocide fugitives’ circles, it also received support in a number of countries from scholars, regional experts, criminal lawyers and journalists. Let me hope that today’s discussion will be enriching for all of us, especially for the young generation and the diplomatic community gathered here with us,” Ambassador Nduhungirehe said.
The welcoming remarks were followed by remarks by Mr. Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) who highlighted the importance of combined effort to fight against genocide denial. “For example, in my last report to the United Nations Security Council, I denounced the lack of cooperation being provided by a number of countries. Public pressure on these countries is important to improve the situation and ensure fugitives are brought to justice,” Mr Brammertz said.
This theme raises a number of critical questions on how to face the challenge of Genocide denial and ideology that has been increasing over the past years in many countries globally. To try to tackle this issue the conference bought together 3 experts to give the audience a comprehensive view of the concept of genocide denial and how to effectively handle it.
The first expert was Dr Roland Moerland, an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the Maastricht University and a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and is an editor on the editorial board of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal. Furthermore He is the author of “The Killing of Death, Denying the genocide against the Tutsi”. Professor Moerland addressed and provided insight on the “Concept of Genocide Denial”, its intentions and the various forms it takes.
Freddy Mutanguha.
The second expert who shared his views was Mr. Freddy Mutanguha, who is the Executive Director of AegisTrust and Director of the Kigali Genocide Memorial who talked about “Commemoration, education and public engagement: tools for the prevention of genocide denial and pillars for unity and reconciliation”.
Providence Umurungi.
The third expert was Ms. Providence Umurungi, who is a Principal State Attorney at the Ministry of Justice of Rwanda, where she is the Head of International Justice and Judicial Cooperation Department since 2016. Prior to her current position, Ms. Umurungi was the Associate Legal Officer at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania; and an Assistant Lecturer at the Law Faculty at the University of Rwanda where she taught Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law courses. She took the audience through the topic “The importance of accountability for genocide and its denial”.
Following the presentations of the panelists, the conference was opened for an interactive session where members of the audience who included members of the Rwandan community in the Netherlands and members of the diplomatic were given the opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts with Ambassador Nduhungirehe, Mr. Serge Brammertz and the 3 experts.
More information, including the statements by the speakers and the link to watch the entire conference at a later stage, please go to the following page on the Embassy’s website:
US Chargée d’affaires Robin S. Quinville. Picture by Land NRW.
Friday, 7 May 2021, Berlin Germany: North Rhine Westphalia’s Minister for European and International Affairs, Dr. Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner welcomed the US Chargée d’affaires Robin S. Quinville to sign the guestbook of NRW state government, and exchange views on the intensive partnership and transatlantic cooperation between Germany, NRW and the United States of America.
This was the very first visit to the NRW representation by a US top diplomatic envoy since the change of administration in the USA, albeit Minister Dr. Holthoff-Pförtner did hold a virtual meeting with US Consul General Fiona Evans back in January 2021.
USA-NRW ties
The USA are represented in NRW by Consul General in Düsseldorf, Fiona Evans.
The USA is one of North Rhine-Westphalia’s most important foreign trade partners. At the same time, US companies are amongst the largest investors and foreign employers in North Rhine-Westphalia. North Rhine-Westphalia is home to more than 1,600 US companies. In 2017, they invested a total of around 13 billion euros. German cities and municipalities are partnered with a total of 32 US cities and municipalities.
According to statistics by NRW about 13,500 US Americans live in the federal state. Between NRW and the USA there are 35 state partnership between cities. Beyond the latter there are 104 school partnerships, 327 signed cooperation agreements between NRW and US American universities and colleges that intensify the transatlantic exchanges.
The number of school and university cooperations between North Rhine-Westphalia and the USA has increased since 2016. In total, there are 122 school partnerships (2016: 99) and 288 cooperations between universities and colleges (2016: 220).
The United Nations defined the culture of peace as a ways and behavior of life that are needed for a peaceful world. French Culture has played a good relations between societies and creates mutual interest, cooperation, and friendship in shaping world arts and cultures.
According to SDG 4.7 which has targeted the education to promote a culture of peace and non-violence by 2030; Shahin Gavanji and Jahangir Gavanji have launched the international program in 2017 which is called “French Culture, Culture of Peace and Humanity (FCCPH)” to share the French culture between societies. More than 10000 people participated inthiseducationalprogram from 3 countries of Iran (Isfahan, Tehran) , Pakistan (Islamabad, Lahore), and Afghanistan (Kabul).
In this program they teach the French culture which includes (French etiquette, peace symbol in France, and French values), to build bonds and interests between different cultures to make the world of friendship, since they believe that culture represents the beliefs of each societies and make a significant contribution to promote peace and friendship.
In this campaign they use the different ways to share the French culture like, brochure and street meeting since they believe that the great way to foster the values of friendship is the cultural education in all societies across the world.
In these campaign the French Traditions and Culture were put in a brochure and presented to all people who participated in this program, in the main parks and streets of each. In this campaign more than 10000 brochure were delivered. The content of brochures include the: Language, Religion in France, French Values, French Fashion, French Art and media, Greetings, Public Behavior, also they talked about the symbol of peace and friendship in France like the Eiffel Tower, I love you wall and other places which make a significant contribution for the promotion of a culture of peace between societies
The goals of this campaign:
The main goal of this is to introduce the French etiquette and social norms to help people in different countries to know about the life and culture of France
Raising awareness about the outstanding cultural and natural heritage of France to establish good relationships with French culture with the others in different countries. Building a bridge between the French culture with other societies and send a message of peace and friendship.
Left to right: H.E. Mr Fazal Ahmad Manawi Minister of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mrs Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the ICC, and H.E. Mr Mohammad Haneef Atmar, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Seat of the Court in The Hague, The Netherlands.
The Office of the Prosecutor and high-level delegation from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan hold productive meetings at the Seat of the Court.
On Friday, 7 May 2021, the Prosecutor of the International criminal Court, Mrs Fatou Bensouda and her team met a high-level delegation from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the Seat of the Court led by H.E. Mohammad Haneef Atmar, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The full day of productive discussions with the representatives of Afghanistan included the participation of officials from, inter alia, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice, the Attorney General’s Office, the Supreme Court and the National Security Department. The meeting was organised in the context of the Government of Afghanistan’s March 2020 request for the Office to defer its investigation pursuant to article 18(2) of the Rome Statute. At the meeting, detailed presentations provided further insights into investigative steps taken or planned by the national authorities in Afghanistan and an opportunity for the Office to seek clarifications on a number of discussion points.
In stressing the importance of a victims-centred approach, Prosecutor Bensouda and H.E. Minister Atmar on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan pledged to work together to achieve justice for the Afghan people by holding perpetrators of atrocity crimes accountable.
“I have great admiration for the courage and resilience of the people of Afghanistan who have withstood tremendous adversity through decades of conflict and violence. They deserve tangible justice without delay”, stated Prosecutor Bensouda. “I look forward to continuing our constructive exchanges with the Government of Afghanistan, which was exemplified by today’s discussions, as we work towards determining how justice may best be served through joint collaborative efforts with full commitment to our respective independent duties and responsibilities under the Rome Statute”, added the Prosecutor.
H.E. Minister Atmar thanked Prosecutor Bensouda for her commitment stating that ”this was a historic and very constructive meeting. The Government of Afghanistan is grateful to the ICC Prosecutor for hosting our high-level delegation to address the investigation and prosecution of all international crimes in Afghanistan” adding that “at this decisive moment for our country’s future, we have made encouraging progress in charting the way forward to ensure that no crimes will go unpunished. With our government’s unwavering commitment to human rights and justice, we are confident that with full cooperation with the Prosecutor, we can jointly advance the cause of justice for all of the victims of the long and devastating conflict.”
Mrs Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the ICC and H.E. Mr Zabihullah Karimullah, Attorney General of Afghanistan
H.E. Mr Zabihullah Karimullah, the Attorney General of Afghanistan who also participated at the meeting added: “Our meeting with the ICC Prosecutor was very useful for discussing the constructive ways in which we can cooperate with the Office of the Prosecutor and for sharing information about the cases that Afghanistan is investigating and prosecuting at all levels. We look forward to continuing our positive exchanges and collaboration to guarantee that there will be no impunity for international crimes.”
The Office is appreciative of Afghanistan’s expressed commitment and the steps taken towards addressing accountability for atrocity crimes and securing justice for victims in Afghanistan in close collaboration with the ICC. The information and clarifications generated at the meeting will be helpful to the Office’s independent assessment of the Government of Afghanistan’s article 18(2) deferral request. The Prosecutor’s decision on that request is pending.
In the picture UNWTO SG Zurab Pololikashvili, President Luis Abinader, and DR Tourism Minister David Collado Morales – Picture by UNWTO.
Friday, 7 May 2021, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: President of Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader invited the tourism ministers participating in the XXVI Summit of Tourism Ministers of the Americas, convened by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), to “show the world that we are redesigning the future of tourism, that this is Latin America’s moment”.
President Abinader affirmed that, “today I feel prouder to be part of Latin American leadership. Seeing this commitment inspires me to move forward, to get up every day and bet on the future of our region”.
Tourism leaders in the Americas committed to jointly addressing the reactivation of tourism, making the sector a priority and adopting international protocols. Additionally, they agreed to emphasize innovation and digital transformation, develop sustainable tourism and strengthen support mechanisms for workers and impacted companies.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili commended the way Dominican Republic has handled the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted that “re-establishing trust in travel is a key first step towards tourism recovery, bringing hope to millions of people in the Americas and igniting the economic recuperation in general.”
Among the main topics of discussion included re-establishing confidence in travel, protecting businesses and jobs, and ensuring that the benefits of the tourism revival are felt beyond the industry itself. The working sessions were attended in person by ministers and vice ministers of Brazil, Colombia (Vice Minister of Tourism, Julián Guerrero) Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico (Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués), Panama, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela, and virtually by government officials from Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Nicaragua, and Peru.
The meetings were developed with the coordination of the host country through the Ministry of Tourism of Dominican Republic, with the participation of representatives of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Association of Hotels and Tourism of Dominican Republic, among other sector organizations.
The summit ended with attendees signing the Declaration of Punta Cana which sealed the commitment of the regional leaders to make tourism a pillar of sustainable development and ensure an effective recovery plan post-COVID.
Perhaps the scariest words in Joe Biden’s speech to the joint session of Congress were, “America is back.” Combine this with former President George W. Bush’s recent charge that the Republican Party of today is isolationist, protectionist, and nativist, and one could be forgiven for imagining Biden and Bush were harkening back to some golden age of foreign policy.
But let us take a closer look at how the ghosts from the pre-Trump era still haunt us.
As my colleague Fred Fleitz pointed out in a recent opinion piece, China should be viewed as a hostile state power and adversary, not a competitor. China has evolved into a strategic threat economically and militarily because, prior to President Donald Trump, the United States coddled China.
In 2001, the United States signed the final documents granting China permanent normal trade relationship status. For the next 16 years, successive presidents took their eyes off of China as Beijing aggressively exploited our trade relationship and put American workers out of work and job providers out of business. They also watched as China launched a massive military build-up to challenge us.
Just as striking are the other colossal foreign policy failures during those 16 years. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, the Arab Spring, and the ISIS caliphate spanning much of Syria and Iraq are major policy blunders from this time. They cost America precious lives and treasure. Since 2001, these costs have included the lives of more than 7,000 American service members, an estimated 8,000 U.S. contractors, and approximately $5 trillion. This was far from a golden age in American foreign policy.
So, as we evaluate this “golden pre-Trump era” what do we find? America continues to fight and be attacked in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and across Africa. The ISIS caliphate, which was allowed to rise during this golden era, was dismantled, but Syria remains an unstable humanitarian and environmental nightmare.
These foreign policy results are why the American people responded so positively to President Trump’s America First foreign policy to keep the United States out of endless and unnecessary wars and not start new ones.
Now is not the time for George W. Bush, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden to be taking victory laps. Americans do not want to go back to the policies of that era—adventurism masquerading as global engagement, conceding our economic position to China on the altar of free trade, and open borders.
Is it fair to attack people for nativism just because they are opposed to open borders? Slandering Americans who believe that immigration to the United States should be managed is disappointing. I am a naturalized citizen of the United States. I have witnessed and participated in numerous naturalization ceremonies and seen the joy in people’s eyes when they receive their new status—citizen of the United States of America. Those naturalization papers are among the most valued documents in the world that a person can receive. They should be treated as such.
Returning to the failed policies of 2001-2016 as Bush and Biden say we should will lead to the same failed results. Does anyone really believe that doing the same thing, will somehow yield different results? As someone who once advocated some of these policies, I do not. We should all be willing to learn from what did not work in the past.
President Trump tried something new and got different results. Rather than more wars, he tried diplomacy and economic sanctions. He exhibited strength, without resorting to military force, by using tough rhetoric and rebuilding the U.S. military.
The results include the Abraham Accords, which was a major foreign policy breakthrough towards normalization in the Middle East. On the border, Trump restored the rule of law and used diplomacy with Mexico and Central American countries, resulting in significant decreases in illegal border crossings. On trade, Trump challenged China on trade policy, intellectual property theft, human rights, and the role of the Chinese Communist Party. This finally put China on notice, and there are few signs Americans want to go back to the way things were.
Joe Biden is reading too much into the November election. America never left the global scene during the Trump presidency. Under the leadership of President Trump, America started to expunge the ghosts of the previous years. Biden should not bring them back.
In the image Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu & Premier Armin Laschet – Picture by Land NRW, Stefanie Loos.
5-6 May 2021, Berlin, Germany: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu encountered Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, and held a meeting to assess the steps to be taken regarding irregular migration on the first day of his visit to NATO partner country Germany.
Later on Wednesday, Minister Çavuşoğlu met with former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and former German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and held a friendly discussion on Turkish-German relations.
On the second and last day of his programme in Berlin, Minister Çavuşoğlu spoke with his German counterpart Heiko Maas about the deep-rooted Turko-German relations, the state of the Turkish community on the 60th anniversary of the immigration agreement and reliable tourism. The meeting was followed by a joint press conference.
Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu stated during the conference that bilateral trade volume has increased despite the pandemic, and will exceed 40 billion US dollars, that Germany is making a constructive contribution to Turkish relations vis-à-vis the European Union, and that we expect concrete steps from the EU.
Minister Çavuşoğlu then met with the Federal Government Commissioner for Tourism, Thomas Bareiß, and provided him with information about Turkey’s tourism programme, and discussed with him the development regarding the vaccination passport in the EU and the measures undertaken in Turkey.
Later the same day, Minister Çavuşoğlu was received by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and stated that they assessed the further development of their cooperation and discussed the situation and achievements of the Turkish community on the 60th anniversary of the Immigration Agreement.
On Thursday, 6 May NRW Premier Armin Laschet received Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for talks that took place at the State Representation of North Rhine-Westphalia in Berlin. The talks with Premier Laschet focused on the pandemic, the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey and the situation in the Mediterranean region.
Relations between Turkey and Germany are very close. Last year, Turkish students formed the largest group of foreign students at German universities. In 2019, Turkey ranked first among the main investor countries for the first time with 73 investment projects.
In the picture, the Ambassador of Panama, H.E. Ms. Elizabeth Ward Neiman, who came to the city’s emblematic Peace Palace, with Mr. Erik De Beaedts, Peace Palace & Carnegie Foundation Director-General.
Mr. Erik de Baedts, General Director of the Carnegie Foundation-Peace Palace and Treasurer of the Hague Academy of International Law since 2015, individually welcomed to the Peace Palace the ambassadors that have presented their credentials in the Netherlands throughout 2020 and 2021.
As part of a program started in 2019, the Peace Palace would normally organize, in collaboration with Diplomat Magazine, a private group reception at the Palace for the new ambassadors. However, in light of the anti-COVID regulations, the traditional group reception has now morphed into a set of individual visits to the Palace, under the personal guidance of its General Director Mr. De Baedts.
“Until now I’ve had the pleasure to welcome the ambassadors of Egypt, Panama, and Rwanda. They all showed a sincere interest in the Peace Palace and in all the activities that the institutions hosted here undertake to promote peace through law” – Mr. de Baedts said.
“The ambassador of Panama, H.E. Ms Elizabeth Ward Neiman, was very much interested in the architecture and the cultural heritage of the Peace Palace, whereas with the ambassador of Egypt, H.E. Mr. Hatem Elsayed Mohamed Kamaleldin, there was an interesting exchange on how to deal with extremist narratives and how to promote peace and tolerance between people with various backgrounds and faiths” – the General Director continued, describing his meetings with individual ambassadors.
H.E. Mr. Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, Ambassador of Rwanda and Erik De Beaedts, Director General of the Peace Palace.
“I met H.E. Mr. Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, ambassador of Rwanda the day after I laid a wreath at the monument opposite the Peace Palace to commemorate the victims of the Second World War. I learnt a lot from the dynamics that have taken place in Rwanda over the past decades. We share an interest to prevent dynamics of exclusion and persecution of minorities from taking place” – Mr. de Baedts said.
The Peace Palace hosts two of the most important Courts in the world: the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, which is the only main UN organ located outside of New York; and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. In addition, the Palace also hosts The Hague Academy of International Law.
The Peace Palace was built after the First Hague Peace Conference of 1899. It finally opened its doors in 1913, thanks to a donation from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who established the Carnegie Foundation to build and maintain the Palace in perpetuity. The Carnegie Foundation also manages the Peace Palace Library and hosts the Academy.
The Palace has been designated as a National Monument and carries the European Heritage Label – recognitions that testifies to its high cultural, historical and architectural value.
In addition to the aforementioned functions, the Peace Palace also facilitates conferences during which important international law concepts are elaborated. At the same time, The Hague Academy of International Law, since its establishment, has educated more than 50,000 students and lawyers from all over the world, including future ambassadors and judges of many countries.
The meeting between the Peace Palace’s General Director and the new ambassadors, jointly organized by the Peace Palace and Diplomat Magazine, wants to symbolize the need for cooperation and solidarity in the complex efforts aimed at reaching peace among all countries in the world. “I wish the ambassadors a successful tenure in The Hague and I hope to see them more often once the Palace can open up again after the pandemic” – concluded General Director de Baedts.
