NATO SG Jens Stoltenberg & Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds – Picture by Nato.int.
Wednesday, 7 August 2019, Sydney, New South Wales, Commonwealth of Australia: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was in Australia for a two days visit wherein he signed a novel agreement with Australia on security matters.
Stoltenberg encountered the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and other senior officials in Sydney for the inking of NATO’s and Australia’s “enhanced partnership plan”.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has spent the past three decades building partnerships with non-member countries in a bid to improve the way military forces operate together and manage crises.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg moreover attended a series of meetings with Australian foreign and defence officials in Canberra on Thursday, and spoke at the Australian National University.
NATO’s chief discussed with Australian officials the growing role and influence of Russia and China, the continuing threat of terrorism and the complex issue of cyber conflict. The fight against the Islamic State is not over, Stoltenberg reminded Australians, although significant progress had been made in reducing the terrorist organisation’s scale and influence.
Australia contributes around 300 personnel to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, as well as funding for Afghan defence and security forces.
Likewise Iran was high on the agenda during the meetings as Australia weighs up a Trump administration request to provide military ships to help protect commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
In the picture Ambassadors, chief of missions, diplomats and teachers at IHE Delft.
A total of 128 water professionals from over 40 different countries attended the graduation ceremony, held at Oude Kerk in Delft and almost 40 diplomatic representatives attended.
IHE Delft Graduation Day at Oude Kerk in Delft
At the end of the ceremony the students proudly waved their diploma tubes and cards showing each of the 17 UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), to which their work will contribute when they return home.
The graduates are now part of the IHE alumni community that comprises over 15,000 water professionals working and living in more than 160 countries.
In the picture H.E. Mr. Lirim Greiçevci, Ambassador of Kosovo.
By Roy Lie Atjam.
The Hague, Wednesday 12 June 2019, venue The Chancellery of the Republic of Kosovo. To mark the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo by NATO/KFOR’s forces on 12 June 1999. The Ambassador of Kosovo H.E. Mr. Lirim Greiçevci, Ambassador and Defense Attaché Col. Ahmet Ajeti hosted a reception. Commemorating and celebrating at the same time.
Lieutenant General Ton van Loon ( Commander of 11 Artillery Battalion. With this battalion he deployed in 1999 to Kosovo as part of the German led Multinational Brigade South in KFOR1.)
Ambassador Greiçevci indicated that former US President Bill Clinton(72) and former Foreign Secretary Madeleine Albright(82) will be in Kosovo to participate in the Pomp and pageantry of the celebration. Kosovo’s Order of Freedom, the country highest order has been bestowed on President Bill Clinton. Clinton is considered the father of the new European nation Kosovo.
It was very heartening to see that some persons who have been an eyewitness of the liberation in 1999 in attendance.
Col Ahmet Ajeti, Defense and Security Attache for the Benelux, Embassy of Kosovo, Astrid van Genderen Stort; now senior coordinator Duty of Care UNHCR; in 1999 protection/field officer UNHCR , Colonel Paul Hoefsloot; now commander of the NLD Fire Support Command; in 1999 battery commander 1st battery of the Taskforce, Lieutenant General Ton van Loon, Mr. Lirim Greiçevci, Ambassador of Kosovo, Mrs. Yllka Geci, First Secretary, Embassy of Kosovo, Mr. Besnik Ramadanaj,Minister Counselor, Embassy of Kosovo.
H.E. Lirim Greiçevci addressed the gathering, his speech is hereto attached.
” It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all today as we mark the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo. 12 of June is celebrated as Peace Day in Kosovo, it is a day when NATO took over Kosovo and brought the long awaited freedom with them.
We are particularly delighted to have with us today, Leutenant General Ton van Loon, who commanded the Dutch troops to Kosovo in June 1999.
20 years ago, Kosovo was on the brink of destruction. Our mere existence was at stake. The balance of force was so uneven that our only hope for survival was to appeal for help from the international community.
From 1989 when Kosovo’s autonomy was abolished by force, peaceful resistance, constant pleas for restoration of our basic human rights, would not budge the Serbian dictator, Slobodan Milosevic. He had unleashed an unprecedented campaign of terror against the majority population of Kosovo.
A decade later, when nothing else worked and all hope for a peaceful solution was lost, an armed conflict was the only option left for us to defend ourselves. Kosovo Liberation Army emerged.
Serbia used their army, special police and paramilitaries who had returned from the killing fields in Bosnia. Unspeakable crimes were committed against the civilian population in Kosovo.
Luckily for us, the international community, who knew what Milosevic forces were capable of, decided to try to end the war.
Mrs Xhuljeta Keko, Minister Counselor, Embassy of Albania and Mrs. Simone Gerrits, Policy Officer Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Slovenia, Dutch Minsitry of Foreign Affairs.
A peace conference was convened in Rambouillet in France in 1999 and a peace plan was offered on the table. The plan was not independence, though a vague promise of a referendum at some point in the future was made. Despite this, Serbia rejected the peace plan and Kosovo accepted it.
Our delegation had put all of our trust in the international community and they in turn heard our plea.
On 24 March 1999, 19 most advanced democracies of NATO were left with no choice but to intervene militarily to enforce the peace. For 78 days, our only hope came from the sky. Serbia unleashed absolute terror against the civilian population.
NATO was determined to win and that is what happened in June 1999. NATO came in and Serbian forces were driven out of Kosovo.
Ambassador Greicevci and interns of the Embassy of Kosovo and students.
Freedom came at last but at a great cost: 10,000 civilians murdered, a million people forcibly deported to neighbouring countries, 20,000 women raped, whole villages and towns razed to the ground. There are close to two thousand people still missing today. In many ways, we still feel the legacy of the past.
Some 2000 members of the KLA paid the ultimate price for freedom.
20 years later, we pay tribute to all those NATO/KFOR peacekeepers who came to our rescue and have been with us every step of the way. We are proud to still host some 5000 international peaceekpers from various nations.
In 1999 Kosovo was placed under UN administration. Serbian authority was completely excluded but the status of Kosovo remained undefined. THe UN was our government. We had UN travel documents, sometimes immigration officers at international airports were confused and thought we all worked for the UN .
In 2006-2007, UNSC appointed the former Finnish president Martti Ahtissari. He was tasked with recommending a status for Kosovo, which he did. For two long years he tried to accommodate Serbian interests in Kosovo.
His plan, along with his recommendation that Kosovo becomes and independent state as a multiethnic society, contained some of the most advanced safeguards for the rights of all communities, in particular for the Serbian community. Those are now part of our laws and our Constitution.
Yet again, Serbia rejected the peace plan and Kosovo accepted it. Our leaders declared independence on 17 February 2018. Independence was the only way to protect our hard won freedom.
Mr. Roy LIe Atjam, Diplomat Magazine’s Editor and Mr. Wesley Toelen, Protocol Officer | Embassy Relations, Municipality of The Hague and the Ambassador of Kosovo.
An EU facilitated Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations is underway. Serbia has yet to come to terms with its past. To date, with some minor exeptions, they are still in denial. Most perpetrators of some of the worst crimes since WW2 are still roaming free in Serbia.
There can be no reconciliation without justice. But we in Kosovo are determined to continue to extend a hand of peace to our former oppressor.
Since June 1999 we have come a long way as a country and as society. The Kosovo which General van Loon and his troops saw in 1999 is very different today.
Of course there are still challenges today, but we are fortunate to have so many friends who have helped us to build solid foundations for the future.
Our strategic goal is to join NATO and the EU.
In the meantime, some of those children refugees have we saw in the video clip, have now become global talents. We have produced world superstars, Olympic gold medallists, Oscar nominated filmmakers and famous athletes, especially footballers. It is safe to say that today we furnish several European national teams with top footballers. Our national football team just scored a win against Bulgaria for the Euro 2020 qualifiers. They remain unbeaten for 14 matches now.
As I am fond of saying often, in the past we needed your soldiers, your police officers, your civil servants. Now we need your investors and your tourists. So we look forward to welcoming General van Loon and all his former soldiers as visitors. They are very much part of our success.”
There was a second speaker at this event, Lieutenant General Ton van Loon(Rt) who shared some of his experiences.
In the picture H.E. Eksiri Pintaruchi, Ambassador of Thailand with participants.
The 14th edition of the Thailand Grand Festival NL (TGF) in The Hague, organized by the Royal Thai Embassy in cooperation with Diplomat Magazine, took place at Plein Den Haag on 13th and 14th July 2019.
The festival was inaugurated by Thai Ambassador H.E. Eksiri Pintaruchi and was followed by a reception.
The Royal Thai Embassy also celebrated two other events, one wasthe 415th anniversary of Thai-Dutch relations and the other was the ASEAN Cultural Year 2019.
This year’s theme of the Thailand Grand Festival was “Sustainability, Design and Innovation”
In addition to Thai food, crafts and cultural performances to be enjoyed, this year’s event aimed at showcasing Thailand’s future driven initiatives with global environmental awareness as a part of the ASEAN community. In order to highlight sustainable and innovative aspects of Thailand, the Embassy had exhibitions organized to feature products and initiatives of Thai companies and entrepreneurs related to these domains.
2019 Thai Grand Festival in The Hague.
Alongside many of the acts featured on the program were the Thai and ASEAN dance and music performances. Another group from the Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Culture of Thailand put on a well-received performance. Notably was the contribution by the performing art company Viva ASEAN which is made up of artists from the ten ASEAN member states. Among the pieces performed were the All Roots Lead to One (unity) Ramayana, Bamboo and Coconut-shell Rhythmic Dance as well as other pieces.
Viva ASEAN also performed in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen on 8th July 2019.
Apart from the Thai diaspora, visitors at the festival came from all sections of society including the friends of Thailand, expats, diplomats and government representatives. Some have been attending the festival for several years.
Besides Diplomat Magazine, partners of the festival include:
Team Thailand Offices
Thai Community in NL
ASEAN Committee in The Hague
Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Culture of Thailand (Performers)
Viva ASEAN performers from 10 ASEAN countries
“Here and There” creative group for their design exhibition at our spotlight dome.
Long list of Thai products and craftmanship producers that were displayed at our spotlight dome.
Ambassadors attending the Thai Grand Festival in The Hague 2019.
The two day festival was by all means a dazzling success, even the favorable weather seemed to have cooperated in contributing to the overall enjoyment of the occasion.
In the picture H.E. Ms. Laura Dupuy Lasserre, Ambassador of Uruguay.
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the Uruguayan painter Luis Alberto Solari, the Embassy of Uruguay in The Hague in cooperation with the Hispanic Association of The Hague, presented a Conference on his life and work.
The activity was held on April 4, 2019 in the hall of the Koningkerk, in the city of Voorburg, and was attended by some 60 people, including diplomats and Spanish- speaking members of the Association.
Posters and banners were exhibited with a selection of the painter’s works and some catalogs were distributed.
Mrs. Edith Bergansius, President of the Hispanic Association of The Hague.
The evening began with welcome words from Mrs. Edith Bergansius, President of the Hispanic Association, followed by a short speech by the Ambassador of Uruguay, H.E. Mrs. Laura Dupuy.
The program also included the screening of the video ‘Luis Alberto Solari 100th Anniversary of his Birth’ and Mr. Gabriel Inzaurralde (Uruguayan born), who is a professor of literature at the University of Leiden, spoke extensively about the work and thinking of Solari, a talk that he entitled “The Melancholic Carnival”.
Professor Inzaurralde delighted the audience with his stories, not only of the local context but also of the painter’s inspiration, connecting him to other artists such as Bosco or Marc Chagall or going back to works from the Middle Ages and Greek mythology (Art History).
Professor Gabriel Inzaurralde (Leiden University).
The evening ended with a small reception where Uruguayan wines, empanadas and pascualina were served.
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Additional information: https://rogallery.com/Solari/Solari_bio.htm
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In the pictures: Mrs. Edith Bergansius, Director of the Hispanic Association of The Hague; the Ambassador of Uruguay H.E. Mrs. Laura Dupuy Lasserre and Professor Gabriel Inzaurralde (Leiden University) –in order of intervention-.
On Thursday, 10 October in Amsterdam and on Saturday, 12 October in The Hague, the Residentie Orkest The Hague and top violinist Isabelle van Keulen will present the programme From Darkness to Light. Other highlights of the Residentie Orkest in October and November include the NTR Saturday Matinee with Kortekaas’s Footnotes to the human comedy, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with Ronald Brautigam, Master of the Hammond with Sven Figee and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Van Baerle Trio.
From Darkness to Light with Isabelle van Keulen
Hope in dark times. The Residentie Orkest, conducted by Michal Nesterowicz, will perform in the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam on Thursday, 10 October and in The Hague’s Zuiderstrandtheater on Saturday, 12 October. The beautiful, melancholic programme features Britten’s Lachrymae, Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 5 and the Dutch premiere of Verbey’s After the Great War. Internationally renowned Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keulen will appear as soloist. The concert in The Hague is a collaboration with Festival Dag in de Branding.
World premiere of ‘Footnotes to the human comedy’
On Saturday, 19 October, the Residentie Orkest, conducted by Nicholas Collon, will perform the NTR Saturday Matinee in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. This very special programme features Beethoven’s Mass in C major with the Netherlands Radio Choir, Holloway’s Trumpet Concerto with Swedish brass virtuoso Håkan Hardenberger and the world premiere of Bram Kortekaas’s Footnotes to the human comedy. This great work by a young Dutch composer is based on the pithy Footnotes to the human comedy written by Amsterdam-born writer Arnon Grunberg for the newspaper De Volkskrant.
Collon meets Brautigam
The Residentie Orkest, conducted by Nicholas Collon, will perform Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 4 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 on Friday, 8 and Sunday, 10 November in The Hague’s Zuiderstrandtheater and on Saturday, 9 November in the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam. Appearing as soloist will be Ronald Brautigam, an internationally sought-after pianist who has regularly shared the stage with the Residentie Orkest in the past. This will be his first time working with Chief Conductor Nicholas Collon, performing Mozart’s most dramatic piano concerto. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity!
‘Master of the Hammond’ Sven Figee
The Residentie Orkest, conducted by Joost Geevers, will give a sensational Symphonic Junction show with Sven Figee on Saturday, 16 November in the Paard in The Hague. The Lucky Luke of the Hammond, Figee plays faster than his own shadow and always hits the mark. From Bach to blues and from Vivaldi to Metallica, his performance is a sight to behold and a joy to hear. Often steaming, rumbling, squealing, crackling and intoxicating but invariably poetic and incredibly intimate.
Schubert 9 and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Van Baerle Trio
On Friday, 22 November, the Residentie Orkest, conducted by Jan Willem de Vriend, will complete its Schubert cycle in the Zuiderstrandtheater with Symphony No. 9, the magnificent swan song of the Austrian genius. De Vriend will also meet the prize-winning Van Baerle Trio – violinist Maria Milstein, cellist Gideon den Herder and pianist Hannes Minnaar – in Beethoven’s virtuosic Triple Concerto. There will be a second chance to enjoy Schubert 9, again in the Zuiderstrandtheater, on Sunday, 24 November during Lazy Sunday.
Residentie Orkest The Haguewebsite, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
In the picture, His Majesty, King Willem – Alexander during the opening of Museum De Lakenhal. Foto’s: Jorrit Lousberg.His Majesty the King opened the renovated Museum De Lakenhal. The museum opened its doors to the public last June, after being closed for more than 2 years. During the closure, the museum has been thoroughly restored and expanded.
The museum had invited primary school pupils in Leiden to take part in a competition to design a key with which the King would perform the opening. 17 schools took part in the competition. The winning design and its designers played a prominent role in the opening ceremony. The key with the winning design was combined with a second key to unfold the city’s symbol and symbolically open the museum. The three winners from group 7 of the Arcade Primary School performed this ceremonial opening together with the King.
Foto’s: Jorrit Lousberg
During the guided tour that followed, the King viewed the premier exhibit, ‘The Last Judgement’ by Lucas van Leyden, the collection on ‘The Siege and Relief of Leiden’, and the New Leiden Cloth, which was developed by five present-day artists and designers using a combination of new techniques and Leiden’s old, traditional crafts.
He also paid a visit to the new educational studio, where the class of the winning designers was attending a workshop.
Thanks to the restoration and expansion, the balance between various time levels according to the principle of ‘unity in diversity’ has been restored. In the splendidly restored museum complex, one can find a rich selection from the collection of pictorial art, craftwork and history, based on seven core stories.
Ten contemporary artists and designers were commissioned to make a radical intervention in the building within the framework of the restoration and expansion. In the new exhibition halls one can view spatial still lifes by the Belgian photographer Karin Borghouts and the work of the pictorial artist Marjan Teeuwen.
Museum De Lakenhal is an inclusive, hospitable museum that makes everyone welcome regardless of age, disability or cultural and social background.
Monday, 22 July 2019, Zagreb, Republic of Croatia: Croatian top diplomat Dr. Gordan Grlić Radman has joined the cabinet of his homeland’s sitting XII Prime Minister Andrej Plenković as chief of diplomacy. He succeedsMarija Pejčinović Burić who was elected as the XIV Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 26 June.
Thus Dr. Gordan Grlić Radman becomes Croatia’s XV Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, which meant a sudden end of his ambassadorship in Germany wherein he had been serving since 2017.
The Global Publisher Diplomacy Award’s winner Dr. Gordan Grlić Radman and Mrs. Radman, with organizers from the Diplomatic Council, Diplomat Magazine and other participants.
Minister Dr. Grlić Radman is a true European as his language skills prove it: he masters, in addition to his native Croatian, German, English, Bulgarian and Hungarian.
Ms Lilja Limingoja took up her official duties as National Member for Finland at Eurojust on 1 August. Prior to her appointment, she served as Assistant to the National Member for Finland.
Since 1995, Ms Limingoja worked as District Prosecutor. She specialised in the area of economic crime starting in 2003. She has also been a member of a group of prosecutors responsible for training economic crime investigators, customs officers, tax officers, attorneys, judges and prosecutors.
Ms Limingoja served as Seconded National Expert at Eurojust from February until July 2014, and also served as a contact point for the European Judicial Network (EJN) prior her appointment as National Member.
Commenting on her appointment, Ms Limingoja described her new assignment as a great opportunity: ‘I have been working for a long period as a prosecutor in Finland, and now, in a way, I do not need to change the work. I am still working as a prosecutor, not with my own cases, but with my colleagues’ cases. Eurojust’s family is a working community where you have the Finnish National Desk, other National Desks, other colleagues and corporate staff; in a way, you have different kinds of people and different positions, all working together, which is fascinating.’
Eurojust has had an association with Finland since the end of the ‘90s. The discussion on the establishment of a judicial cooperation unit was first introduced at a European Council meeting in Tampere, Finland, on 15 and 16 October 1999, attended by heads of state and government. This meeting was dedicated to the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice in the European Union, based on solidarity and on the reinforcement of the fight against trans-border crime by consolidating cooperation among authorities.
Ms Limingoja joins Eurojust as National Member at an exciting time, the beginning of the Finnish Presidency. For further information on Finland, the Finnish Presidency and the Finnish Desk at Eurojust, please see the Finnish country profile on Eurojust’s website.
30 July- 1 August 2019: Bavarian State Minister Dr. Florian Herrmann, Head of the State Chancellery and Minister of State for Federal and European Affairs and Media, embarked on a two-day working to Israel.
The office of the Free State of Bavaria in Tel Aviv is an important point of contact for the manifold ties between the Free State of Bavaria and the State of Israel.
Tel Aviv
The journey’s focus laid upon innovation and start-ups. Dr. Herrmann held talks with important representatives from the fields of business and technology and paid a visit the “Start Up Nation Central”. Minister of State Dr. Florian Herrmann as per statement below: “A highly innovative start-up scene makes Tel Aviv one of the leading and most vibrant high-tech cities in the world. Especially in the areas of Digital Health, Fintech, Cybersecurity and Industry 4.0, Israel is one of the driving forces of the digital future. We would like to intensify the exchange in this area and mutually benefit from our experience. With our offices in the heart of downtown Tel Aviv in the co-working space “Mindspace” the office of the Free State of Bavaria is located in the heart of the lively start-up scene of the city.”
During the trip Dr. Herrmann encountered participants of the “New Kibbutz Programme”. In the latter programme, young students from Bavaria and other federal states can complete internships lasting several months in Israeli companies or start-ups in the fields of high-tech, IT or life sciences. The Free State of Bavaria supports this offer of the German-Israeli Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
As part of a political salon in Tel Aviv, the Minister of State partook in a panel discussion on “Bavaria and Israel: Common values, common challenges”. Minister of State Dr. Florian Herrmann: “Bavaria and Israel have many things in common. We live the essential values of a democratic society. Israel and Bavaria are highly innovative countries which, despite their modernity, also live their traditions and customs. We are therefore ideal partners.” Other discussion participants include Dan Shaham (former Consul General of the State of Israel in Munich) as well as Julia Obermeier (representative of the Hanns Seidl Foundation in Israel and the Palestinian Autonomous Territories).
Laying a wreath at Yad Vashem.
Jerusalem
In Jerusalem, Minister of State Dr. Herrmann commemorated the victims of the Holocaust in Yad Vashem and lay a wreath on behalf of the Free State of Bavaria. In his words: “It is a special, personal concern of mine to visit Yad Vashem. The terrible crimes of the Nazi era must never be forgotten, or relativised – that is our responsibility. We must do everything we can to ensure that such forces can never grow again in Germany. As a believing Christian it is incomprehensible for me when other people are hostile, persecuted or even murdered because of their faith”.
In Jerusalem, the Minister of State was likewise received by high-ranking representatives of the Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel.
