Dancing diamonds are the ultimate emblem of the Maison Chopard. Invented in Chopard’s workshops in 1976, they have never ceased to distil their daring through multiple watch and jewellery creations. Through the talent of the artisans in Chopard’s Haute Joaillerie workshops, they now lend their signature touch to three unprecedented jewellery watches crafted in ethical 18-carat white gold. Each features a dial set with five dancing diamonds and framed by a tiara of marquise-cut precious stones.
Within Caroline Scheufele‘s creative repertoire, jewellery watches stir very special emotions: the grandfather of the current Co-President and Artistic Director of Chopard was already famous almost a century ago for the gemset timepieces in which he specialised. This gives an idea of the expertise cultivated by the artisans in the Maison’s Haute Joaillerie ateliers, which are now unveiling three new creations in ethical white gold, diamonds and sapphires.
These jewellery masterpieces also nurture the heritage of dancing diamonds, skilfully perpetuated since the Maison invented this revolutionary concept in 1976: five setting-free diamonds spin joyfully on their own axis as well as whirling around the watch dial. In passing, they offer infinite shimmering reflections of the light illuminating their facets, bringing to life a show that upends our vision of time. The artisans of the Maison’s Haute Joaillerie workshops have set an array of carefully calibrated marquise-cut precious stones forming a ‘laurel wreath’ around this hypnotically charming dial. The first all-diamond version is complemented by two others graced with blue or pink sapphires. They are respectively fitted with matching grey, blue or pink satin straps.
Haute Joaillerie at Chopard
At Chopard, Haute Joaillerie is guided by the visionary eye of Caroline Scheufele, who over the years has developed the largest specialised workshops in Switzerland. Today, at the Maison’s headquarters in Geneva these encompass more than 30 crafts dedicated to celebrating precious stones and boundless creative generosity, nurturing a wealth of emotions in step as seasons come and go.
Main image: Ethical 18-carat white gold watch set with marquise-cut pink sapphires (13.53 cts) as well as brilliant-cut diamond and graced with five diamonds dancing around its dial. Pink satin strap.
Cartier began 2021 with an international campaign devoted to its iconic designs. For this new campaign, Cartier invites you to (re)discover the diversity of its iconic collections – Santos, Tank, Trinity, Love, Juste Un Clou, Panthère and Ballon Bleu through a series of images.
They reflect Cartier’s stringent standards and design vision that have led the Maison to the constant quest for the perfect form based on the purity of the line, the accuracy of the shape, the precision of proportions and the precious details.
By bringing these collections together for the first time, this campaign pays tribute to the line which is powerful, clean and precise, like those of a designer, born from a vision and an intention. Thus, it raises design to the rank of culture, by creating objects that remain desirable over time.
Cartier icons
“Cartier is a pioneering house, in constant creative exploration. This campaign demonstrates the Maison’s ability to create cult designs that stand the test of time, objects that are at once immediately recognisable and bear witness to the past,” said Arnaud Carrez, Cartier’s Marketing and Communication Director. “The simplicity and strength of these images allow us to celebrate a unique collection of cult design creations that have earned a place in the history of jewellery and watchmaking, and in the hearts of our customers.”
The campaign alternates between featuring all the collections and each one individually. It was unveiled on 6 January2021 in the international press, on the company’s social media platforms as well as on the website, cartier.com
In doing so, the Maison continues to keep the history of these pieces alive. Indeed, the remarkable, pure designs make it a unique collection.
Ambassador Fernando Antonio Grillo Rubiano, presented his Letters of Credence to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on April 7, 2021.
Ambassador Grillo holds a Law degree from the University of the Andes (Bogota, Colombia) and specialized in Constitutional Law at the Centre for Constitutional Studies and Political Science (Madrid, Spain), as well as in Family Law at the University Externado (Bogota, Colombia).
Ambassador Grillo has extensive experience in the public service, mainly in matters related to the strengthening and modernization of the Colombian State. From 2018 to March 2021, he was the Director of the Administrative Department of Public Service. He is the current representative of Colombia to the Latin American Centre for Public Administration and Development (CLAD) and presides its council since 2018.
He served as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Embassy of Colombia to the Government of the Republic of Ghana between 2016 and 2018, and Counsellor at the Colombian Embassy to the Swiss Confederation from 2009 to 2013. He was also a Law professor at the University of the Andes in Bogota, Colombia.
H.E. Ambassador Jose Eduardo Malaya is a foreign affairs career official with over three decades of experience. He presented his credentials to His Majesty the King Willem Alexander of The Netherlands on April 7th. Before been appointed Ambassador to The Netherlands, he was Undersecretary for Administration in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. In 2019, Mr. Malaya, who’s considered a legal heavyweight, was Assistant Secretary at the Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs.
Previously he was ambassador to Malaysia from September 2011 to March 2017 following his position as Foreign Affairs spokesman and concurrently Assistant Secretary of Legal Affairs from February 2009 to September 2011. Earlier he was Assistant Secretary of Policy Planning at DFA from March 2007 until January 2009. He served at Philippines missions in New York, Brussels, Chicago and San Francisco.
Mr. Malaya is the author/editor of several books: “Frontlines of Diplomacy: Conversations with Philippine Ambassadors” (Anvil Publishing, 2011); “Philippine Treaties Index, 1946-2010” (Philippine Foreign Service Institute, 2010); “So Help Us God: The Presidents of the Philippines and their Inaugural Addresses” (Anvil Publishing, 2004), “Philippine-Malaysia Agreements (1962-2014): Cornerstones of a Partnership” (2015). “Frontlines of Diplomacy” was a Finalist for the 2013 National Book Awards (Professions Category) under the auspices of the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle.
Furthermore, he published: Forging Partnerships: “Philippine Defense Cooperation under Constitutional and International Laws” (University of the Philippines Law Center, Quezon City, 2016); Stewards of the Nation: Aguinaldo to Duterte and their Inaugural Visions (Anvil Publishing, 2018), which is an expansion of the 2004 publication. In 2018 when he visited The Netherlands he donated his books to the library of the Peace Palace, hoping that” ‘these books will reflect the vibrancy of diplomatic engagements and the ferment of international law discourse in the Philippines and relatedly in the Asian region’. ‘It is hoped that the above-said materials will be helpful to researchers and students of the law’.
Ambassador Malaya studied economics (BA with honours) and law (Juris Doctor) both at the University of the Philippines. Married to Rena Cristina Koa-Malaya MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist, he has three children – Mark Edward, Jana Ariana and Adrian Edward. He was awarded the Order of Sikatuna, rank of Datu (Grand Cross-Gold Distinction), in 2010 by President Arroyo and the Order of Mabini (Gwad Mabini) in 2016 by President Benigno S. Aquino III.
Today, the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in the Kingdom of the Netherlands held a virtual ceremony marking the 27th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. In observance of all measures taken in this country by the Dutch Government aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19, the online program was developed in cooperation with Ibuka Netherlands and the ceremony was broadcasted today at 15.00 hours.
The online Kwibuka27 ceremony was organised to remember and honour those we lost, comfort those who survived and pay tribute to the sacrifices that brought Rwanda back to life. The diplomatic community, Rwandan nationals living in the Netherlands, friends of Rwanda and many others were invited to join for Kwibuka27.
After a minute of silence, a speech was given by Mrs Christine Safari, President of Ibuka Netherlands, which is an umbrella organization of survivors of the Genocide committed against Tutsis in 1994 in Rwanda. She applauded the genocide survivors for sticking to life. “You find that one accepts consequences of the genocide, then, goes on to become self-reliant, and rebuild themselves. This is great bravery.” Mrs Safari also said that she appealed to the Government of the Netherlands to permit to build a genocide memorial site where wreaths can be layed during the commemoration period. “I also appeal to the Government of the Netherlands to continue tracking perpetrators of genocide and bring them to justice. We request everyone’s support in fighting genocide minimization which is now on its peak, as these deniers continue to misname and misrepresent the facts by spreading a false narrative of double genocide,” she said.
After a moving testimony by Mrs. Naila Clarisse, Genocide survivor, Judge Agius Carmel, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) gave his remarks. He assured that the Rwandan people are more than ever present in his heart and in his mind. “People all over the world are commemorating with you, you are not alone!” he said. Judge Agius Carmel continued to say that denialism does not only affect the pain and suffering of the victims of the genocide, it delays reconciliation and there’s an overall danger to peace and security. “Lies written in ink (or on social media) will not erase truth written in blood. Indeed, the ICTR judgements are filled with facts written in blood,” the Judge said. “I’m pleased to share with you that the Mechanism has now completed the translations in Kinyarwanda of all remaining ICTR trial judgements and is in the process of making them available and accessible to the Rwandan people in their own language,” he added.
Representing the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary General Paul Huijts said in his speech that educating our children about what happened in 1994 is crucial, because they will have to prevent atrocities from happening in their lifetime. “For over 25 years, the Government of the Netherlands has been providing expertise and capacity to help Rwanda rebuild its justice system. To honour our partnership Rwanda and the Netherlands will jointly organize a conference in Kigali in June of this year. We have invited Rwandan and Dutch students to engage in a friendly debate on the last day of the conference. Because the future of justice is in their hands,” Secretary General Huijts said. He also said that genocide suspects will not find a safe haven in the Netherlands.
H.E. Ambassador Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe concluded the Kwibuka27 ceremony with his keynote address. He said that 27 years have passed, but the wounds are still fresh and the memories are still vivid. The Ambassador promised that the Government of Rwanda will continue to stand by side of the survivors and support them in the long journey towards healing.
“We are particularly grateful to the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the decisive actions it took in this regard. Not only did our host country support our justice sector in the wake of the genocide, but it also investigated, arrested, prosecuted, convicted and extradited a number of genocide fugitives. The Government of Rwanda remains actively engaged with Dutch authorities to ensure that the remaining genocide suspects, who are still roaming the streets of Dutch cities and towns, are also brought to book,” Ambassador Nduhungirehe said.
He continued to say that H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, once stated that the security of peoples who have once been targeted for extermination can never be exclusively physical. Until all ideologies which justify killing as a patriotic duty are defeated, our world is not truly safe. “In this regard, I recall that ‘Never Again’ was the world’s commitment after the Holocaust. This commitment was renewed after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. It is our view that ‘Never Again’ should not be just a sincere sentiment or a convenient slogan but should be translated into a fortress against the ever present threat of extermination,” the Ambassador stated.
In closing and to honour the victims of 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Ambassador Nduhungirehe once again invited everyone to remember, unite and renew, by speaking and acting against hate, against racism, against antisemitism, against bigotry, against discrimination, against mass atrocities and against the crime of crimes – Genocide.
More information, including the video of the Kwibuka27 ceremony in the Netherlands, is available on the following webpage:
The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, together with the Clingendael Institute hosted a high-level webinar on the topic of Serbia’s accession to the EU. In this virtual open dialogue, the speakers discussed the progress made so far, the key players in this process, as well as the next steps to allow for regaining momentum in 2021. While 2020 proved a difficult year for the accession process with Serbia, with no accession chapters having been opened, the current year is critical for the Republic of Serbia to progress on reforms and move closer to fulfilling the criteria for its EU membership.
The European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, H.E. Mr. Olivér Várhelyi, introduced in his speech the revised methodology, which opens avenues that allow for an enhanced process of Serbia’s EU accession. In the words of H.E. Mr. Várhelyi, the four main principles of this revised methodology which structure the EU’s approach in enlargement processes are: credibility, stronger political steer, predictability, and dynamism, the latter of which presents the core element when talking about Serbia.
“In order to inject more dynamism into the negotiations, we work in chapters that are clustered, whereby it is precisely this opening of chapters in clusters that is fundamentally important for Serbia.”
Mr. Várhelyi informed that the reforms being undertaken by the Serbian government are well discussed in the European Parliament, and similarly encouraged the Serbian parliament to make the reforms a priority topic of discussion. Acknowledging that Serbia’s economy showed remarkable resilience in the past year, with its economic growth outgrowing some European member states, the Commissioner encouraged more reforms in the country’s financial system.
Finally, H.E. Várhelyi remarked: “Bringing Serbia into the EU is our joint interest, and this has been underscored by the Covid-19 pandemic, which showed us how interconnected is the region of EU neighbourhood.”
A speech by H.E. Ms. Jadranka Joksimovic, the Minister of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia followed as the next keynote address of this high-level webinar. On the matter of the revised methodology, H.E. Ms. Joksimovic informed that;
“Serbia accepted it without knowing the exact contents, whereby the country showed a significant and strong level of confidence in the good intentions and good manners of the European Union concerning the enlargement process for candidates and potential candidates from the Western Balkans, including Serbia.”
Furthermore, H.E. Ms. Joksimovic acknowledged the dynamism which the opening of clusters of chapters brings, however the Minister stressed that Serbia’s accession process is very particular due to the country’s highly political issue – the normalisation of Belgrade–Pristina relations. This process, implemented through a mediated dialogue that is facilitated by the EU, is very sensitive and difficult for Serbia, and therefore additional attention must be paid to this subject matter in the enlargement process. Additionally, H.E. confirmed that Serbia’s government is resolved to make substantial progress on the rule of law area, freedom of media, prevention of corruption, fight against organised crime, as well as judicial reforms.
Finally, the Minister emphasised that; “Intergovernmental Conferences will be the right place to have high-level discussions about the EU member states’ clear expectations from Serbia as an acceding country, and, on the other hand, a place where we can openly and friendly talk about our position on different issues, about a lot of challenges that we are facing, and to see how we can continue our EU accession process more efficiently. The IGC at the end of Portuguese Council Presidency will serve to realise that we have to actively understand each other and actively engage in the acceptance of the new methodology and how it will be applied in the further process.”
After the keynote speeches followed a Q&A discussion with the participation of panelists-experts on the main topic of the webinar coming from various institutions, including Ms. Lise Gregoire, the EU Director at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Milena Lazarevic, Program Director from the European Policy Center (CEP, Belgrade), and Mr. Christoph Schmidt, working as the Brussels correspondent at Trouw newspaper.
Ms. Lise Gregoire highlighted the bilateral ties between the Netherlands and Serbia, with the trade as well as FDI between the countries increasing, and affirmed that the relationship is important for both countries alike. Agreeing to the previously mentioned principle of credibility within the enlargement process, Ms. Gregoire underlined that the rule of law is the main guarantee of this, and as such is one of the key elements of the whole process. As it ensures an even stronger emphasis on the fundamentals such as the rule of law, The Netherlands looks very favourably upon the new methodology. Lastly, Ms. Gregoire expressed the hope for Serbia’s progress on reforms, as well as the need of more cooperation on corruption, media freedom and connectivity.
Contributing with a perspective from a Serbian think-tank, Ms. Milena Lazarevic outlined how the EU can provide more incentives and ways for positive change for Serbia in the process towards its membership of the Union, in which Serbia is prepared to play a constructive role.
In his contribution to the panel, Mr. Christoph Schmidtinformed that the accession process with Serbia is currently not very high on the list of EU priorities, overshadowed by the post-pandemic recovery efforts and the EU Green Deal policy. With a sum up of the programme of the past and current Council of the EU presidencies, Mr. Schmidt also explained that the enlargement dossier is getting very politicised in many EU member states, which influences the ongoing accession processes to a great extent.
In their final remarks, the high-level guest speakers of this webinar concluded that the revised enlargement methodology indeed offers a window of opportunity for an enhanced accession process. By allowing for a faster progress in the negotiations between the EU and Serbia, the benefits of the EU membership are bound to become available to Serbian citizens in the foreseeable future.
5-6 April 2021, Republic of Serbia: Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, welcomed at Nikola Tesla Airport, the National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Office for Humanitarian Affairs and Youth of the Kingdom of Bahrain, HH Major-General Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
The envoy of Bahrain’s monarch arrived on a two-day working visit to Serbia, following up on the State Visit paid by President Aleksandar Vučić to Bahrain between 13-14 March 2021. President Vučić expressed his gratitude that shortly after his state visit to Bahrain, a decision was made for the Bahraini delegation to visit Serbia.
Bahrain and Serbia agreed to sign acts avoiding double taxation, and to sign a comprehensive interstate agreement between Serbia and Bahrain, and thus show that we are committed to cooperation in all areas. Embassies are due to be established in both countries’ capitals, and a business forum is being set up.
In his capacity as National Security Advisor, Major-General Sheikh Nasser Al Khalifa attended a display of weapons, military equipment and capabilities of Serbian Army units at the “Colonel Milenko Pavlović” Military Airport in Batajnica.
Lessons learned for the geopolitics of critical infrastructures
Corneliu PIvariu. Photography by Ionus Paraschiv
By Corneliu Pivariu.
The maritime/river transports represent the most important segment of the world total transports as they cover, according to latest data, 89.6% in volume terms and 70.1% in value terms of the global total. Moreover, they have the advantage of not only being cheaper but also of being less polluting per freight tonne as compared to all the other transport modalities.
Within this business, an important role is played by the mandatory passage points represented (from east to west) by: the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab-el-Mandeb, the Suez Canal, Bosphorus, Gibraltar, the Panama Canal to which we could add the Cape of Good Hope.
The recent incident of March 23rd, represented by the blockage of the Suez Canal brought again to the international attention the issue of the safety of the maritime transports especially at the mandatory passage points.
The potential threats for the safety of transitting the Suez Canal are often emphasized as results of the materialization of certain adverse scenarios. Most often ”played” scenarios refer to terrorist attacks which could provoke major disruptions in various fields, especially economic.
The indigenous incidents (threats) are not as ”attractive” for the public opinion. Although their occurence is more likely, such accidents are much less analyzed as far as implications are concerned.
Geoeconomic safety aspects:
The Suez Canal in a nutshell:
12% of the global trade
One million barrels of oil/day
8% of daily trade of Liquefied Natural Gas
Daily incomes of 14 – 15 million $ (5.7billion $ in 2019/2020). Before the pandemic, the Suez Canal transit represented 2% of Egypt’s GDP.
19.000 ships transited it in 2019 (more than 50 ships/day)
The recent incident provoked an agglomeration of more than 360 ships until the Canal returned back to transit, and the value of the blocked freight was estimated to be over 10 billion $.
The German insurance company Allianz estimated that the blockage of the Suez Canal could diminish the yearly global growth by 0.2 – 0.4%.
The Wall Street Journal emphasized that as a result of the EverGiven incident, the cost of freight for the transportation ships between Asia and the Middle East increased by 47% mainly due to attempts of rerouting the ships in order to avoid the Suez Canal (i.e. adding around 8 navigation days).
Yet the temporary blockage of the Suez Canal affected not only the global maritime industry or the Egyptian economy but also innumerable other companies (corporate and retail endusers of transport services). Besides, the quality reports of the shiped goods have to be issued before the merchandises reach the endusers (which are not a few having in mind the more than 18,000 containers aboard the blocked ship as well as the other transcontainers on the ships (transcontainers represent 28% of the Suez canal transit).
It is likely that, having in mind the financial losses, the feasability studies for commissioning the north route of maritime transports be speeded up, although some experts say that is not feasable and the Russion action of opening up the ice shelf with three submarines is more of a propaganda campaign than of an affordable possible solution.
The maritime containers shipment as part of the logistic global chains could add up to the already chaotic situation following the disruptions generated by the pandemic.
Physical safety aspects
At the time of the impact between the EverGiven transcontainer ship and the shore of the Canal, the wind speed was approximately 40 knots/hour. It is possible that human piloting errors (?) or objective technical considerations be added to the unfavourable weather conditions.
The Suez Canal Authority mentioned that this would have not (!) been the only reason for which the ship remained blocked.
Many analysts of the incident (most of them experts in dealing with the the risks attached to maritime transport strategic infrastructures) consider the need of a serious investigation leading to clear, worth trusting conclusions concerning the causes of the event.
Credible sources maintain that the Suez is known as ”the Marlboro Country” and suggest that presents are being given to the piloting people.
The Canal is vulnerable to possible obstructions caused by transiting ships especially in some sectors such as:
– The sector between Ras El Ish and El Ballah area in Port Said
– The containers terminal area
– The Port Tewfik area
The Canal is relatively vulnerable to terrorist actions in ”the Suez Canal” Bridge area, known as the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge or in El Ferdan Railway Bridge but also in the waiting areas on the Timsah Lake and on the Great Bitter Lake.
Aspects of military and operative-intelligence security
The Suez Canal is one of the strongest defended strategical objectives in the world as part of the critical global transportation infrastructure. Few security events were witnessed so far (the most important were recorded in 2005 and 2009) which were quickly solved.
The 3rd Egyptian Army and the security services have as main missions securing the vessels’ safe passage of the 193 km long, 205 m wide and 24 m deep Canal and are controlling the vulnerabilities liable to be exploited by hostile forces.
The combination of the integrated high-technology equipment (Radars, VTMS and CCTV) and the combination army-intelligence and security services secure an appropriate protection of the objective.
The greatest security challenge comes from vessels transiting the Canal:
The blockage of the Canal in areas where there are hard rock (and not sand) shores following incidents similar to EverGiven one;
Detonating IEDs aboard the ships in transit.
The risk level generated by such a threat is equal for all vessels yet the resulted effect differs from ship to ship depending on factors such as the type of ship, the king of goods or even the owner’s nationality.
It is likely that the naval forces of the main states interested in streamlining the traffic through the Suez Canal in emergency situations to operationalise rapid interventions subunits in such crisis circumstances with effective intervention equipment for big ships (over 300,000 dwt) too.
Admiral (ret) and ex-SACEUR James Stavridis’ controversial idea of setting up an international body for security management of the straits and navigation channels starts to make sense.
It makes sense too, that the intelligence and security services have and will have a bigger responsibility in the future as a result of the fact that the EverGiven giant ship is owned by a Japanese company, operated by a Taiwanese maritime shipping company and managed by a German company registered in Panama. And for everything being ”easier to be managed”, all the 25 members of the crew are Indian nationals.
Setting up alternative routes (in the 1960s the US submitted the idea of launching construction of another canal as alternative to Suez) and Turkey is to start constructing in 2021 the Istanbul Canal. In our opinion, these are solutions, albeit incomplete ones.
As it is the case in all sectors, a greater concern for raising the education level could be a good solution which, unfortunately, requires a longer period of time.
At the same time a solution must also be found for safer operation in an infrastructure – sometimes from the middle of the 19th century, whit the ships of the 21st century.
Presentation at the virtual international debate whit the same title, organized by Financial Intelligence Romania on March 31st 2021. www.financialintelligence.ro
Corneliu Pivariu Military Intelligence and International Relations Senior Expert
A highly decorated retired two-star general of the Romanian army, during two decades he has led one of the most influential magazines on geopolitics and international relations in Eastern Europe, the bilingual journal Geostrategic Pulse.
Lorenzo de’ Medici di Ottajano, adescendant of the célèbre banking dynasty, and Ed Boyle, former Fidor Bank, Managing Director for the Americas, have set up Medici Bank, a digital bank focused on the needs of today’s international online customers.
The founders combine years of experience managing both traditional, and digital assets to lead a team specialised in advanced banking technologies for digital-centric commerce and investing.
The fully-licensed, U.S. chartered bank, headquartered in Puerto Rico, has developed convenient, transparent, and easy-to-use services for customers that need a fast, secure banking option.
An expert in wealth management and alternative investment strategies, de’ Medici manages his family’s portfolio and shared ownership in a number of European banks. Recent technological advancements in financial services, such as blockchain or Bitcoinup.io, have now motivated him to step into an operational capacity at Medici Bank, where he leads business development and builds strategic partnerships.
Director Lorenzo de’ Medici holds an MBA from the University of Bologna. CEO Ed Boyle’s background spans more than 20 years of leadership roles at banking and payments companies including Managing Director of Americas at Fidor Bank, Vice President and General Manager at American Express, and CEO of Blade Payments. Boyle holds an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.
By H.E. Ms Dubravka Plejic Markovic, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Kingdom of the Netherland.
Back in October 2019, at the beginning of my new posting in The Hague, my and most of my colleagues’ professional lives and careers seemed to be structured and guided by a certain degree of predictability, planning and application. It all revolved around contacts and human interaction. All of this was destined soon to see dramatic changes.
Coming from the multilateral hub in Vienna, I was anticipating The Hague mandate not to be much different from the one my predecessors effectuated, being about bilateral issues and multilateral negotiations. I was eager to meet new colleagues and to embark to discover this famous Dutch tolerance and openness which is attracting so many young Croats who come to study here. Not to mention great number of Croats who have settled permanently in the Netherlands and who, with their skills and application of hard work, became inseparable part of this successful society.
In my mind, I dearly held memories of exhibition from 1990 commemorating centennial of Van Gogh’s death. Not only I was impressed by his masterpieces; tranquility and civility of life in the Netherlands and stillness of the canal waters in Amsterdam resonated hugely for someone who grew up on banks of the Danube River. Coincidently, geopolitics played its hand here as well. That was a year which was about to bring profound changes in Europe and upheavals were palpable everywhere. As a young person from a communist country who was yet to witness the war and aggression, I saw these dramatic emotions emanating from Van Gogh’s panels as a harbinger of my own uncertain future.
Almost three decades later, back in the Netherlands, my mind was overtaken by enormity of the task of representing the country which Dutch people know so well from holidaying and doing business and which begins with presenting credentials to His Majesty, the King. I ended up enormously liking the easygoing manner of the ceremony and will remember it forever: its rites, golden carriage procession, understated manner in portraying societal richness and one owns tradition while keeping up with modernity.
As Croatia was about to assume the EU Presidency and with 2020 quickly approaching, my task of drafting local protocols and implementing national plans for the first ever Croatian Presidency kept me busy. There was not much time left for usual diplomatic courtesies, I had to quickly take over the role that some of my EU colleagues have already carried out so efficiently. I was settling into my new role hastily thinking of exciting times ahead.
In January 2020, with my small team in the Embassy, I embarked on a journey that would, I hoped, see Croatia, EU and the Netherlands as close partners in making Europe stronger in a challenging world. About that time compounding stories of mysterious illness and terrifying pictures of virus stricken hospitals started to creep in. I can now clearly point out to a moment when I awkwardly stopped shaking hands at official gatherings and still remember uneasiness of physical proximity at meetings, all of which was contrary to my intrinsic multilateral attitude.
Then my work in The Hague was further impacted by the devastating earthquake in Zagreb of such a magnitude that was not registered for in one hundred and forty years. This nightmarish scenario of having both global pandemics and disastrous tragedy meant applying great deal of flexibility in searching for new solutions to continue with work. Soon emergency crisis mood settled in the Embassy further needed for repatriation efforts. The times were calling for coordination, solidarity and innovation.
Adaptation as well. The physical meetings had to be substituted by new operating platforms and we discovered VTCs, Webinars, ZOOM and other platforms while learning how to navigate through them. Laptop screens and online meetings conducted from isolations of our homes turned out to be regular way of communication for a longer than expected with smart phones and facetiming replacing meeting boards. In the meantime, fragmented social life in The Hague continued, with colleagues leaving and coming, while we were bidding virtual farewells to them. Sometimes months passed without knowing who the newcomers are.
Discovering virtues of virtual diplomacy meant also learning that technology has its limits and its own, less rational way of functioning. I learned that painfully during some stressful moments while being unable to join meetings that I was supposed to host. That made me realize how vulnerable at the hands of technology we might become and how critical it is that with seemingly limitless abilities of our minds we do not forget who we are. However great technological perspective for the 21 century might seem to be, I see diplomacy based on social interaction and people-to-people contact at the core of our profession and truly hope that it will survive and raise above all these exceptional challenges.
