H.E. Mr. Alexander Shulgin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Netherlands.

By Roy Lie Atjam.

The Hague, 8 February 2918, the venue the Embassy of the Russian Federation. The occasion was the celebration of the annual professional holiday of all Russian diplomats “Diplomats Day”. Russian diplomats have been celebrating this day since 2002 commemorate the founding of the Russian Diplomatic Service in 1549 by Czar Ivan IV.

The fabulously outfitted Ilinsky sisters performed together with guitar player Irina Kulikova, Russian folk and Cossack songs, which further increased the festive atmosphere of the evening. The Medal “For Interaction» of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was bestowed upon Professor of East European Law, Ferdinand Feldbrugge of Leiden University.

The reception was attended by the Director General of the OPCW, H.E. Fernando Arias, many International Judges and members of the business community; the  Ambassador of  Nicaragua, Soudan, Belarus, South Africa and other dignitaries. All drop by to congratulate H.E. Ambassador Alexander V. Shulgin on this special day,  “Diplomats Day”.

Ambassador Alexander V. Shulgin extended a warm welcome to all the guests. He went on to say: Today we celebrate a professional holiday of all Russian diplomats, “Diplomats Day” It was established in 2002 to commemorate the founding of the Russian Diplomatic Services in 1549 by Czar Ivan IV.  

Since then, diplomatic activity widened its range considerably, it has become part of our daily life and grew in almost all fields of it. The new type of diplomacy requires true understanding of economic, financial, cultural and social data and a clear vision on political issues. Besides bilateral negotiations, multilateral ties became highly important at the level of international conferences and organisations. Cultural diplomacy also gained a significant place.

But what remains unchanged, is the main goal of diplomacy – promotion of friendship and cooperation, cultural, educational and scientific exchange, mutual understanding and respect between peoples, prevention of war and violence, protection of our shared values. And the modern Russian diplomacy fully remains true to these fundamental principles of diplomacy and international relations.

We see diplomacy as a universal foreign policy tool: there is hardly a global challenge today that does not require our countries to cooperate – from fighting terrorism and nuclear proliferation to curbing the spread of illegal narcotics and epidemic disease, not to mention the development of economic ties which make life better for millions of our peoples.

We are determined to continue working at the level of international structures for the sake of international peace and security, prosperity of our nations. Russia is a member of a number of international organizations, including: World Trade Organization (WTO), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), UNESCO, Hague Conference on Private International Law, International Maritime Organisation, World Tourism Organisation and many other. Our counrtry is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

I mentioned the importance of educational and scientific cooperation in international relations. In this regard, I would like to fulfil a pleasant duty – to award the Medal «For cooperation» of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to professor European Law at the Leiden University.

In the 90s he advised Russian of the Leiden university. Mr.Ferdinand Feldbrugge is the leading expert in the field of Soviet and Russian legislation in the Netherlands, the author of numerous works on this topic. For many years professor headed the Institute of Eastern parliamentarians and specialists, who worked on new legislation of the Russian Federation, including the development of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
In 2017 professor presented his new book «History of Russian law». Dutch and Russian experts in the field of law highly appreciate professor Feldbrugge`s many years of experience in the legal field, his contribution to the development of legal science. I would like to welcome Mr. Ferdinand Feldbrugge.

Finishing  my welcoming remarks I would like to introduce to you our artists – guitar player Irina Kulikova and sisters of Ilyinskie who are here to increase the festive atmosphere of this evening//

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev at the award of the Ewald von Kleist Award – Picture by Office of the Prime Minister of North Macedonia.

Saturday, 16 February 2019, Munich, Free State of Bavaria: Hellenic Prime Minister Alexis Tsiprasand his North Macedonian counterpart Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, were bestowed the Ewald von Kleist Award at the 55th Munich Security Conference.

Both heads of government were honoured for their successful diplomatic efforts ending an impasse in the long-standing name dispute between their two countries. The two politicians emphasised in their speeches that it was important to overcome stereotypes and move towards each other: “Both Alexis and I are aware that we have placed our political careers at risk by concluding the Prespa Agreement,” said Zoran Zaev at the ceremony held in the Munich Residence, a former royal palace for the Bavarian monarchs.

Greece and North Macedonia have signed an agreement last year to settle the ongoing name altercation, which had been troubling their countries’ relations for over a quarter of a century.

According to the agreement, the former Yugoslav republic is called is henceforth officially called North Macedonia. Following the agreement, Greece declared its support for North Macedonia’s accession to NATO and the EU, which the Hellenic Republic had been blocking for years. 

About the Award 
The Munich Security Conference has awarded the Ewald von Kleist Award since 2009. It honours outstanding personalities who have made a special contribution to peace and conflict resolution. The award highlights the political life and work of Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin (1922-2013), who founded the Munich Security Conference in 1963 under the name “International Defense Customer Meeting”. Kleist moderated the conference until 1998.

For further information:
Munich Security Conference: https://www.securityconference.de/en/news/article/alexis-tsipras-and-zoran-zaev-receive-ewald-von-kleist-award/?fbclid=IwAR09R2zmYoiosdn_2Y8z2nkij163pHZ8oGpEwNLOgb5AL-Ui2Xqe3vmIFhc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VFYpWsULeE
Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev: http://www.sdsm.org.mk/Pretsedatel.aspx
Prime Minister of Greece: https://primeminister.gr/en/home

By Roy Lie Atjam.

The Hague, 17 February 2019. The Deputy Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Mr. Yvan Gil is on a European tour that will take him to several European countries. He made a stop-over in The Hague.

Deputy Minister, Mr. Yvan Gil, paid a courtesy visit on OPCW Director General, Mr. Fernando Arias and met with his Dutch homologue at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Marcel deVink.

Scores of Ambassadors, diplomats, International Judges, members of the None-Alignment Movement (NAM+China) all representing countries and institutions friendly to Venezuela, attended a reception hosted H.E. Ms. Haifa Aissami Maddah of Venezuela in honor of the visiting Minister Gil.

 A poise and convincing  Minister Yvan  Gil, delivered a puissant speech explaining the current situation of his country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The speech was not just powerful but very enlighting as well.

One now has a balanced view of developments in the Republic of Venezuela,  a sovereign state bend on defending the right to self-determination. Here are some excerpts of Mr Yvan Gil’s speech:Venezuela has the world’s first oil reserve, the world’s fourth gold reserve, as well as other large reserves of gas, iron, diamonds, water.

Venezuela is a victim of a blockade and financial expropriation that makes free trade impossible, particularly the purchase of food and medicine. Under this pretext, ´they´wanted to promote a scenario that reflects the need for humanitarian aid for Venezuela, but an humanitarian aid not accompanied by the International Red Cross, but by foreign military forces.

We insist that our country does not live in a humanitarian crisis, our country suffers an economic crisis due to the financial embargo and the economic blockade. Within this blockade: Euroclear has retained 1,400 million euros belonging to Venezuela, the Bank of England has confiscated 1,200 million dollars in gold and the United States expropriated more than 30,000 million dollars, property of the Venezuelan State. The Latin American Geopolitical Strategic Center (CELAG) calculates a loss of 350, 000 million dollars in the last 5 years, product of this financial blockade.

The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, has repeatedly called the Venezuelan opposition deeply connected with the Department of State of the United States of America, to dialogue, as the only way to preserve internal peace.

Please find a link to the full speech by Deputy Minister Mr Yvan Gil in Spanish.

file:///C:/Users/PC%20Medion/Downloads/Speech_Vice-minister_for%20Europe%20(2).pdf

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Photography by Imane Rachidi.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo H.E. Mr Lirim Greiçevci and Mrs Lindita Greiçevci celebrating their first National Day as the new Kosovo´s ambassador to the Netherlands. 

By Roy Lie Atjam.

It is for this reason that the Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo H.E. Mr Lirim Greiçevci and Mrs Lindita Greiçevci host a reception in The Hague on the bright afternoon of 19 February 2019.

Among those who came to felicitate Ambassador Lirim Greiçevci were representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Municipality of the City of The Hague, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, the Kosovo diaspora and friends.

In his welcome remarks, H.E. Mr Lirim Greiçevci expressed his gratitude towards all who attended his early afternoon reception. An eloquent Ambassador  Greiçevci stated “We are always happy to see so many friends from across the world.

Greiçevci continued; 11 years ago, on 17 February 2008, our democratically elected leaders, declared Kosovo a sovereign state.

Independence was never some fancy label for us. Independence was and is the only way to protect our hard won freedom.

And freedom came at a great cost, after decades of oppression, a terrible war, ten thousand lives lost, close to a million refugees deported from their homes, hundred of thousands of homes destroyed and close to two thousand persons still missing today.

In many ways, we still feel the legacy of the past.

We take huge pride in the fact that our independence bears the stamp of the UN special envoy and Nobel Peace prize winner, former Finnish president Marti Ahtisaari, whose comprehensive plan for Kosovo’s status contains some of the most generous provisions for minority rights anywhere in Europe, and which we have since embraced and incorporated fully into our Constitution and our laws.

In 2005, President Ahtisaari was tasked by the UN Security Council to recommend a solution for Kosovo’s status which had remained undefined since 1999 when NATO had intervened to save Kosovo. After two years of difficult negotiations, our leaders accepted his plan, Serbia rejected it.

President Ahtisaari took his plan along with his recommendation that Kosovo became an independent state, to the United Nations. His plan was never tabled at the Security Council as Russia as a permanent member threatened to veto it.

Our leaders were left but with one choice:  to declare independence in Parliament. We are extremely grateful that the declaration of independence has been recognized to date by the majority of world nations. We thank each and every country who recognized but we always encourage others to do so.

Today I am proud to say that Kosovo is a multiethnic democracy where all its communities are represented at all levels of government playing a full part in Kosovo’s institutions and society. Our strategic goal is to join the EU and NATO.

Of course, none of this would have possible without the crucial role played by the international community. As Kosovo, we put all of our trust in the international community from the very beginning and they in turn believed in us and our future. I believe it is safe to say that Kosovo is the world’s most successful project in state building in recent history.

Since 2011, under the EU auspices, we have engaged in a Dialogue with Serbia to normalize relations. Despite the absence of mutual recognition or any expression of regret about the past by Serbia, we have made considerable progress in our relations.

The breakthrough by Greece and North Macedonia, our next door neighbour, in their relations, has sent positive vibes in our region and will give a boost to a future agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. And we look forward to another NATO member in our neighbourhood soon.

In the near future, we expect to embark on a final phase of negotiations to fully normalize relations so that both countries can progress towards the EU. It is something we owe to future generations. We have to leave the past behind and look to a brighter future in our relations. The EU will be key to our success.

Of course, among our key supporters in our journey has been the Netherlands. The Dutch government and the Dutch people have been with us every step of the way to help us in our transition to freedom, democracy, rule of law, market economy.

The Netherlands was among the first to countries to recognize Kosovo. This year we will be marking the 10^th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.

Kosovo may be relatively small in size and population but it is a powerhouse of talent in music, culture, sports. We’re proud of our world popstars: Rita Ora, Dua Lipa, Era Istrefi. By the way, Dua Lipa won two Grammy awards less than two weeks ago.

Era Istrefi sang at the opening of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. And if some of you don’t know who they are, and I suspect many of you do not, how shall I put diplomatically, and if you are not of the right age group, just ask you children. They will tell you all about them.

Our national pride in sports, judoka Majlinda Kelmendi, won a gold medal in the Olympic games in Rio where Kosovo participated for the first time.

It is also safe to say that we furnish several European national football teams with top footballers: Xhaka, Shaqiri, Behrami, Zeneli, to name just a few, are household names in Europe.

Our filmmakers made into the finals in the Oscars in 2016 and won a BAFTA award in 2017 with short films.

So, we look forward to a future with optimism and confidence and we count on your friendship and support as ever.

And thank you again to all of you for joining us today and may we all raise our glasses to Kosovo, the friendship between Kosovo and the Netherlands and to the wellbeing of Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Màxima.

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