By Pauline Krikke, Mayor of The Hague.

The Hague likes to bring people together. Whether they be people living in different neighbourhoods of our city, or people from different countries who come to The Hague for a conference. The Hague is pleased to provide a forum for discussion and the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

A tradition which dates back to the first Peace Conferences and the building of the Peace Palace. When it was officially opened in the summer of 1913 it attracted a lot of interest. One of the guests arrived in what – for the time – was a very modern means of transport: he flew from Paris to The Hague in his flying machine, made some turns around the brand new Temple of Peace and set his aircraft down on the ground somewhere nearby. And that was in an era when horse and cart was still the main means of transport. A nice anecdote which clearly illustrates the technological advances of that age. Advances that were then rapidly changing the world. Just as the digital revolution is doing today. This latest revolution however has also presented us with some entirely new issues.

Wars are no longer fought only on the battlefield, but in cyberspace too. Break-ins increasingly take the form of hacks. Bullying is no longer just words spoken but also messages posted and spread on the internet. And the news reaches us not just through newspapers, radio and TV, but increasingly via social media where the “the truth has become elastic”. 

As the city of peace and justice, The Hague wants to be actively involved in finding answers to the question of how to deal with this new reality. Where does the boundary lie between what is – and what is not – acceptable in the digital world? Where does freedom of expression end and censorship begin? And to what extent do we want government or commercial parties to decide what we get to see or not? A great deal has been written about the capacity of social media to promote democracy and build bridges. And that is certainly true. But at the same time, it has also become clear that social media can create even deeper social divides, turning groups of people against one another.

Last December we celebrated the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A human lifespan later this Universal Declaration has lost none of its power. It is still indispensable as a measure of human dignity. But what about human rights in the digital world?

The General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union was, of course, an important step forward, but we still have some way to go. It is all about creating a digital world in which freedom, security, economic growth and social development go hand in hand, and in which the fundamental rights and values of ordinary citizens are protected.

The Hague is more than willing to provide a forum for this vital debate. As we did last year for the Summit for Accountability and Internet Democracy. This year again, two major conferences devoted to this topic are being held here in this city.

And with good reason too. There is already ample expertise on this subject available in and around The Hague. Apart from this concentration of knowledge, The Hague has proven itself to be a unique setting for building trust between parties. Confidence between nations. Faith between businesses. And as a place for international dialogue.

International law, the foundations of which were laid at those early Peace Conferences, applies to the digital world too. But it has to be observed, of course. Something on which agreements need to be made. The Hague sees it as its task to support that process in whatever way it can.

The sheer breadth and diversity of the internet means that this will be no easy task. Because essentially the issue is an ethical one. I am nevertheless convinced that humanity can accomplish that task. In this context, we only need to remember the example of Andrew Carnegie, the man who donated the Peace Palace to The Hague. He was an idealist, but also a realist. It is realism which forces us to act. The generations that come after us will be grateful for that.

Pauline Krikke, Mayor of The Hague. Photography by Martijn Beekman.

By Brândușa Predescu, Ambassador of Romania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

I vividly remember the day my country, Romania, became a member of the European Union. It was a cold, chilly winter day, but I was overjoyed. I am sure that on that day, the 1^st of January 2007, all Romanians felt the same.

EU accession was seen by Romania and its people as the natural fulfilment of a national aspiration – a symbolic reintegration with Europe and everything it stands for – freedom, peace, prosperity, security, rule of law, human rights. And now, after 12 years, we have the honour and the responsibility to be at the helm of the EU Council.

Our turn has come to give something back to Europe, to bring to the fore again a key message that needs to be clearly promoted: it is unity that makes Europe strong. Unity is for Europe the greatest chance and the only way forward. 

Therefore, the choice of the motto of the Romanian Presidency, “Cohesion, a common European value” came naturally.  It underlines the need for unity and cooperation at all levels – among EU Member States, their citizens and with the EU institutions. The Romanian EU Presidency promotes “cohesion” as a fundamental European value but also in the broadest sense of the word, from political, economic, to social and territorial cohesion. Following this approach, the agenda of the Romanian Presidency encompasses four key priorities:

First, Europe of convergence. We believe that a cohesive Europe has to provide equal development opportunities to all its citizens. We can reach this aim by promoting connectivity and digitalization, implementing regional and cross-border cooperation projects, stimulating entrepreneurship and the competitiveness of the European industry.

Secondly, a safer Europe through increased cooperation between Member States against the new security challenges and through upholding initiatives in the areas of justice and security.

Thirdly, Europe as a stronger global actor, by supporting a consolidated role of the EU on the international stage, beginning with advancing the enlargement agenda and the European path of our neighbours in the Western Balkans and of the countries of the Eastern Partnership. 

Last but not least, a Europe of common values as a key element of our efforts to rebuild citizens’ trust. Promoting the values included in the Treaties, such as cohesion, equality, freedom, democracy, human dignity, justice, and solidarity, is important for ensuring genuine support for the European project.

Europe represents above all a community of values which we must defend and protect in these troubled times. That is why during the Presidency, Romania is working to advance a citizens-oriented agenda. Files with a concrete impact on the daily life of European citizens are particularly significant. Romania’s presidency is future-oriented and forward-looking. In preparing for the next institutional cycle of the EU, Romania aims to build on the reflection on the future of Europe. This substantial reflection process will culminate in the informal Summit of European leaders in the Romanian city of Sibiu, to take place symbolically on the 9^th of May, on Europe Day. 

Indeed, I believe the European elections and the Sibiu Summit are two milestones of our Presidency. As it looks now, these elections are, more than ever before, crucial for defining the future path of the EU. That is why continuous meaningful communication and dialogue with citizens are very important in maintaining and increasing the support for the European Union and thus ensuring perspectives for its successful future. Especially young people are called upon to actively engage in EU affairs. This is something I am personally very attached to and try to encourage in the frequent dialogues I have with high school and university students. 

As I said, unity is the one key ingredient that fuels the European project. Without unity, the EU is nothing but a number of countries. “There is only one Europe! Even if it has a mutilated and divided body, the European idea is indivisible. Europe cannot revive in the Western part of the continent if it dies in the Eastern part. Nowhere the word Europe has a stronger support excepting in the Eastern part. Half of the European population keeps in mind the idea of the European unity as a promise for peace and liberty”. These were the words used in 1948, when the division of our continent was already a fait accompli, by Grigore Gafencu, eminent Romanian diplomat and former foreign minister, one of the ardent proponents of the idea of a United Europe.

Today, in a united European Union, as we commemorate 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and of communist regimes in Europe, in 1989, we should remember those times when Europe was divided. And we must not let it happen again. Unity should guide us when our leaders meet in Sibiu on Europe’s Day. Unity must remain the essence of the European project and the force that allows us to overcome the major challenges that the EU is facing.  A united Europe is good not just for Europe, but also for the world. 

The advancement of the European project should be regarded not as optional, but as imperative, as a duty for our generation. Having been separated from the rest of Europe for almost half a century behind the Iron Curtain, Romanians unreservedly appreciate the undeniable benefits of belonging to the EU. It is in this logic that Romania and Romanians want to see the European family prosper based on the values and principles that forge a common European identity while protecting and cherishing what makes Member States and their citizens unique. 

What Nicolae Titulescu – the prodigious figure of Romanian diplomacy in the inter-war period, twice-elected president of the League of Nations – used to emphasize almost a century ago is as valid today as it was then. “Romania’s policy is influenced by the perfect convergence between Romanian and European interests. All of our present and future actions in the field of foreign policy have emerged and will emerge from this fundamental principle.” Romania is Europe and Europe is us.  

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Photography by Robert Huiberts for Diplomat Magazine.

By H.E. Dr. Heinrich Kreft, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

“SaarLorLux” also called the “Greater Region”, consisting of the sovereign state of Luxembourg; Belgium’s Walloon region, comprising the French and German speaking parts of Belgium; Lorraine, a region of France; the French départements Moselle and Meurthe-et- Moselle; and the German federal states of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate is the EU’s area with the highest cross-border mobility. More than 240.000 people cross the national borders of Luxembourg, Germany, France and Belgium every day.

The close bonds between today’s border regions share a history of more than 2000 years: as early as in the Roman era, a ferry connected the Luxembourgish Wasserbillig with the German Oberbillig.

Today’s Greater Region has gradually evolved from the European Border Region SaarLorLux comprising the Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg. Coined in the late 1960s by Dr. Hubertus Rolshoven, founding president of the Institut Régional Intracommunautaire, SaarLorLux was formally founded in 1980. The EU acknowledges the region’s role as nucleus of European integration by supporting the euroregion’s activities within the framework of the INTERREG-programme.  

Nowadays, boundary-crossing cooperation of public administrations and institutions exists in a wide range of areas. Multilingualism – Luxembourgers speak at least the national language Luxembourgish and the two official languages German and French – is not only the key to transnational collaboration but also to the emergence of a cultural life irrespective of national borders.

Being the first of its type in Europe, the cross-border cultural portal plurio.net was created in 2006 in order to promote transfrontier cultural activities. Under the motto “crossing borders together”, 2007 marked the year where the title “European Capital of Culture” wasn’t attributed to a city alone but to an entire region; the Greater Region – another first in the history of Europe.

Beyond that, infrastructure constitutes a further area of transnational cooperation – in large or small. In large, the town partnership between Luxemburg, Saarbrücken, Trier and Metz, QuattroPole, connects four cities in three countries and promotes the formulation of innovative shared strategic policies. Moreover, during its presidency of the summit of the Greater Region, Luxembourg developed a transboundary mobility strategy with a view to facilitating the use of public transportation in the border areas. In small, the Sankta Maria II, today’s ferry connection between Wasserbillig and Oberbillig, allows to save 14.000 liters of diesel fuel by connecting Luxembourg and Germany electrically. 

As German Ambassador to Luxembourg I am seeing the benefits of an enhanced cooperation beyond national borders in my daily life. The emergence of SaarLorLux and its evolution into today’s Greater Region is not only a prime example of transfrontier cooperation, but can – in view of its historic development and the added value it generates for its population – also be seen as laboratory for the European Union. The EU is – and not only in Europe –  perceived as the guarantor for more than seventy years of peace, freedom and prosperity for its members.

EU citizens hold it in their hands by voting for pro-European parties at the European Elections between May 23-26 that this success story can continue!

By H.E. Ms. Soraya Alvarez, Ambassador of Cuba to the Kingdom of The Netherlands.

The Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in the Kingdom of The Netherlands refers to measures announced last April 17th by the current US Administration which reflect the progressive and declared the intention to deteriorate bilateral relations and tight its unilateral and illegal sanctions against Cuba.

The measures are aimed at further reducing the very limited trade exchange between Cuba and the USA and specifically attack the Cuban financial sector. There is an extremely extraterritorial persecution in place, intended to hinder third-country entities and business persons, threatening them with legal reprisals or the denial of visas to enter the United States, for them and their relatives if they exercise the legitimate right to engage in trade and investment relations with Cuba. These measures are the full implementation of the Helms-Burton Act.

The measures also seek to limit the links of Cubans who reside in the United States with their country of origin and curtail as much as possible people to people contact between citizens of the two countries. They restrict remittances and the possibilities for US citizens to travel to Cuba.

In 1996, Cuba adopted a law which among other precepts declares the Helms-Burton Act illegitimate, and assures protection for foreign business persons and investors. Cuba expresses its willingness to legally and politically protect the interests of companies, entities and individuals from any country which maintain legitimate trade and investment relations with Cuba.

The actions and measures announced will undoubtedly have an effect on the Cuban economy,on the development prospects for the country and the population’s standards of living. However,they will not prevent Cuba’s steady progress towards a more just, prosperous and sustainablesociety. Neither will they force any political concession, nor will they in any way, shape or form bend the unflinching will of the Cubans to defend their national sovereignty in face of the aggressive conduct of the United States.

The economic blockade in its entirety and the Helms-Burton Act in particular, have been rejected and demanded its end every year by the overwhelming majority of the United Nations Member States as well as by the international community in multiple international and regional fora.

The Embassy of the Republic of Cuba vigorously and categorically condemns the hostile escalation of the United States government policy against the island which expand the economic, commercial and financial blockade applied against Cuba for the past sixty years. It clearly express disrespect for International Law, well known practices that rule international relations as well as for the norms and principles of the United Nations Charter.