By Roy Lie Atjam.
A remarkable bicycling spree in The Hague, it brought a good number of enthusiasts members of the diplomatic community together on Saturday 20 October 2018.
The objective was inclusion, informal mingling which might lead to lasting contacts and having fun.
The tour departed from Hotel Crowne Plaza and travelled in the direction of downtown Den Haag, parliament square, haagschebos and other interesting historical and tourist sites.
For additional Kim Vermaat’s pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/109407424@N02/albums/72157699504162562Mr Adam Bagyl, Consul and Éva Balog, Office of Economic Affairs, Embassy of Hungary.
The bicyclists were enthusiastic, encouraging feedbacks have been received, some have posted pictures of the tour on social media.
Following the bike ride, the participants met for lunch at a restaurant in the Rosarium Westbroekpark.
Diplomat magazine highly appreciates the participation of all who have contributed to our Third Biking Spree.Dr. Anna Maria Mistretta, Liaison Officer of the Italian Ministry of Interior for The Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, Embassy of Italy, Mr. Antonio Polosa, Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration and H.E. Ms. Andrea Gustovic-Ercegovac, Ambassador of Croatia. “It was great, I learned about the historic importance of places like parks that now are full of trees, but before were battlefields, or bunkers. I am getting ready to use the bike in my daily life in the Netherlands” H.E. Andrea Gustovic-Hercegovac, the Ambassador of Croatia, said.
Such were: diplomats from Mexico, Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Sweden, India and South Africa. Also Ambassadors from Croatia, Finland, Malaysia. Interesting to note, the Ambassador of Malaysia brought along his personal guests, among them a former member of parliament. Other participants were the IOM Chief of Mission and a representative of the EU parliament.
On the picture speaker Mr. Bernardo J. García García, Chair Hispanic Society of The Hague, Ms. Edith Bergansius, Ambassador of Spain H.E. Ms. María J. Alonso and Mr. Luis Tejero González, cultural attaché of the Spanish Embassy.Conference by Dr. Bernardo J. García García, Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the Complutense University.
To mark the beginning of the ’80 years war’ in 1568, the Spanish Embassy in The Hague, Instituto Cervantes (Utrecht) and the Hispanic Society of The Hague organized the lecture Pacification strategies of the Dutch Revolt. Ideas, means and actors in a cultural perspective at Carlton Ambassador Hotel, The Hague, in Spanish language, principally for the members of the Asociación Hispánica de La Haya.
In 2009, on the occasion of 400 years of the 12 years Truce, the Asociación Hispánica de La Haya had organised a ‘Spanish Day’ in the Historical Museum of The Hague with Bernardo J. García García as key speaker, so they did not hesitate to invite him again for the 450 years conmemmoration.
Other than being an excellent speaker, he was also in charge of several expositions in Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands related to this specific subjet. In order to maximize his visit from Madrid, he also spoke in the Rijksmuseum -together with two other speakers- on Sunday, October 14.
The Hague, 22 October 2018– Mechanism Prosecutor Serge Brammertz will visit Belgrade from 22 to 24 October, as part of preparations for his regular biannual report to the UN Security Council (UNSC).
The Prosecutor will meet with President Aleksandar Vučić, Minister of Justice Nela Kuburović and Chief War Crimes Prosecutor Snežana Stanojković to discuss the implementation of the National War Crimes Strategy, regional judicial cooperation in war crimes cases and support from the Mechanism Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) to Serbian authorities’ efforts to achieve justice for war crimes.
Separately, Prosecutor Brammertz will also discuss with interlocutors the humanitarian imperative of accounting for all persons still missing from the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. In addition to consultations with the President, Minister of Justice and Chief War Crimes Prosecutor on this important issue, the Prosecutor will meet Veljko Odalović, President of the Serbian Commission on Missing Persons, and Veran Matić, Special Envoy of the President for the issue of missing persons between Croatia and Serbia. The Prosecutor will provide information on the OTP’s efforts in the search for missing persons, including its joint activities with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and discuss assistance the OTP can provide to Serbian authorities to support their efforts.
It is expected that Prosecutor Brammertz will present his next report to the UNSC in early December.
As one of the largest, and the world’s oldest diamond company, the London-based Backes & Strauss has an advantage as a maker of jewellery watches.
Backes & Strauss specialises in mostly bespoke high jewelry watches, alongside a few collections of rather limited editions assembling rare gems from its élite inventory. Combining the company’s jewelling capabilities with a high level watch-making savoir-faire of Franck Muller one gets splendid results in the like of the Picccadilly 45 King Tourbillon. The watch is a unique piece, priced at $500,000, and is the third in a series of Bespoke tourbillons from the brand.
The lower part of the dial is cut away, both front and back, to reveal the tourbillon escapement. The bridge bears the Backes & Strauss signature arrow motif, which is inspired by the well-known hearts and arrows pattern that is visible when viewing the table of an ideal cut diamond through a special loupe. On the upper dial, hours are marked with seven tapered baguette emeralds, separated by panels of inlaid mother-of-pearl. The inner dial is set with 138 ideal cut diamonds, and the bezel and horns are set with 48 baguette diamonds custom cut to fit the contoured case. The crown is set with an ideal cut diamond.
The case back is also decorated. The rotor is engraved with the London skyline and the rest of the back plate is set with 204 ideal cut diamonds. Ideal cut diamonds are cut and polished according to a precise mathematical formula of proportions. The formula requires cutting away more of the rough diamond, and therefore sacrificing carat size, but the result is a dazzling diamond that reflects the most possible light through the top, or table. Total diamond weight of the Piccadilly 45 King Tourbillon is 18.50 carats, 1.22 carats of which are ideal cut. The case is 18k white gold. The automatic movement was made by Franck Muller.
Backes & Strauss was founded in 1789 and today is part of the Franck Muller Group, based in Genthod, Switzerland, near Geneva.
Tuesday, 11 September 2018, City Hall of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg: H.E. Ambassador Arif Havas Oegroseno who leads the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin since 8 May 2018 paid a courtesy visit to Hamburg’s First Mayor, Dr. Peter Tschentscher.
For the Indonesian head of mission, Hamburg has a particular relevance, for it is seat to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Previous to his ambassadorship to Germany, he was Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs. In the latter capacity Dr. Havas Oegroseno served as President of the 20th Meeting of the 162 State Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (SPLOS).
Before his vice-ministerial position, he was the Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, Head of Mission to the European Union and the World Custom Union from September 2010 to January 2015. Likewise he worked vis-à-vis NATO on maritime security issues. A career diplomat and an expert in international law of the sea, he has served in the Indonesian foreign service for over 25 years since 1986. He was born in Semarang, Indonesia. Dr Havas Oegroseno is married to Sartika Oegroseno, and sired two children.
Ambassador Oegroseno graduated LLM from Harvard Law School in 1992 and SH (Bachelor of Law) from the Faculty of Law, Diponegoro University, Indonesia in 1986. He majored in international public law. Ambassador Oegroseno attended junior (1987), mid-level (1999), senior (2003) foreign service training at the Center for Education and Training of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia; the Australian Foreign Service Course (1988); and the international trade course of the World Bank-Harvard Institute for International Development in Colorado (1990). He participated in the Executive Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (2007) and on Boundary Making at the International Boundary Research Unit (IBRU) of Durham University (2006).
He has given lectures in various Indonesian and foreign universities such as the Australian National University, Cambridge University, Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics, Bilgi University in Istanbul, and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Moreover he has lectured at the Rhodes Academy of International Law of the Sea in Greece, the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta, the Center for Ocean Law and Policy of the Virginia University in the US, as well as the Center for International Law of the National University of Singapore.
Gucci has added another perfume to its successful Bloom range. Nettare Di Fiori makes up the Bloom trilogy and joins Alessandro Michele’s first female fragrance line for Gucci. Created with nose Alberto Morillas, it’s different to the first two fragrances; Bloom and Bloom Acqua di Fiori.
Bloom is famed for its heavenly campaign images, enticing you to become part of the Gucci Bloom gang, and Nettare di Fiori is no exception. The campaign, shot by Glen Luchford, stars Dakota Johnson, Hari Nef and Petra Collins and recreates the dream that Alessandro imagined for this third Bloom installment.
And this is by no means the end of the Bloom fragrance collection. Morillas hinted that there will be more to come in the future.
For further information:
Sunday, 7 October 2018, Emirate of Dubai, UAE: A show titled “Day & Night fashion” was held with Dolce & Gabbana‘s boutique opening at Dubai Mall.
Featuring both male and female collections, it showcased the house’s latest catwalk looks, as well as exclusive pieces created solely for Dubai. They included an intricate and embroidered abaya, the traditional female Muslim garb, designed with gold embellishments and sequins, as well as maxi conservative dresses with floral patterns, feather material and matching headpieces.
The men’s collection saw flamboyant suits featuring regal motifs and crown appliques, as well as classic silk robes with geometrical patterns and earthy desert shades.
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana personally presided over the show, which saw over 120 models fly into the city for it. The designers had transformed the new boutique into a red, white and green garden-like space in honour of the event.
Dolce & Gabbana has joined a pool of luxury brands who have created conservative Arabian-inspired collections.
Since the XVIII century perpetuates the tradition of the “Cabinotiers”, the name given to the prestigious and cultivated watchmakers who worked in workshops bathed in light located on the top floors of Geneva’s buildings. The expertise of these accomplished masters was backed by vast scientific knowledge, fired by a curiosity for new ideas and nurtured by the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Their deft hands craft exceptional timepieces of rare technical and æsthetic complexity, inspired by astronomy, science and the arts.
The Les Cabinotiers collection honours the name given to the prestigious and most skilled watchmakers –cabinotiers– who occupied workshops on the light-flooded top floors of Geneva’s buildings. Watches in the collection are highly technical, hand assembled and usually unique pieces.
Calibre 2755 : an exceptional signature
Vacheron Constantin’s watchmakers have chosen the famous Calibre 2755 to drive the many functions of this extremely complicated watch. This manual-winding movement endowed with a 58-hour power reserve is dedicated to the particularly sophisticated models of the Manufacture – and notably those in the exceptional Grand Complication category to which this one-of-a-kind model belongs.
Art of hand engraving
Epitomising a subtle balance between innovation and the transmission of ancestral skills, this exceptional model also pays tribute to a pair of engraving art techniques that few artisans still master: pounced ornament – or bas-relief – for the case-band; and fine line engraving for the bezel and case-back.
At least a decade’s experience is required to perfect the ability of sculpting gold to create such a three-dimensional effect, in a process involving 300 hours of patient craftsmanship. Given the extreme care lavished on details that constitutes a Vacheron Constantin signature, the wings of this legendary bird appear to be literally ready to unfurl on the case-band, while the movement of its slim neck extends elegantly and gracefully to the very tip of its beak.
H.E. Ambassador Sibusisiwe Mngomezulu and Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Tuesday, 28 August 2018, Berlin: H.E. Ambassador Sibusisiwe Mngomezulu,who is resident in Brussels and responsible for the Benelux countries, the EU, the OPCW, the ACP Group of States, France, the Holy See as well as Germany; was accredited to the latter federal republic by Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace.
He is the first ambassador accredited to Germany and France since the name change for his homeland to eSwatini by royal decision.
Ambassador Sibusisiwe Mngomezulu was born in Manzini, then Kingdom of Swaziland, on 25 December 1973. He is married and has two children. He holds a degree in Social Science (Economics, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 1996), a master’s degree in Business Administration (Finance, US International University, San Diego, 2000) and a postgraduate diploma in project management (School of Business Management, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2003).
After having worked in the industrial, financial and commercial field between 2000 and 2013, he held the following diplomatic positions: Counsellor at the Swazi High Commission in Malaysia (2014-2016); High Commissioner in Malaysia (2016-2017); and Permanent Representative to the European Union (with the bilateral accreditations noted above) in Brussels, where he resides since May 2017.
Ambassador Mngomezulu speaks English, Siswati and French.
Ladislav Hamran, Eurojust PresidentStrengthening the fight against terrorism and migrant smugglingTop prosecutors from across Europe gathered today at Eurojust in The Hague to tackle the ever-changing challenges of cross-border terrorism and migrant smuggling, share new strategies in using the European Investigation Order, discuss developments in the area of e-evidence and prepare for the new Eurojust Regulation. The 13th meeting of the Consultative Forum of Prosecutors General and Directors of Public Prosecutions of the Member States of the European Union (the Consultative Forum) works towards making the cooperation between judges, investigators and prosecutors in the European Union simpler, quicker and stronger.This year’s meeting was co-hosted by Ms Asya Petrova, Deputy Prosecutor General of Bulgaria, and Ms Barbara Göth-Flemmich, Head of the International Criminal Law Department of Austria, in the context of the Bulgarian and Austrian Presidencies of the Council of the European Union. Consultative Forum members stressed the importance of comparing problems and solutions, and sharing admissible evidence, including e-evidence, to help practitioners involved in international criminal investigations deliver more and better results in less time. They also pointed out the need to promote the work of Eurojust as the EU’s judicial information hub and to use judicial cooperation tools, such as the European Investigation Order (EIO), more often and more efficiently.Ms Petrova said: The channels used by migrants and asylum seekers to pass through Bulgaria are often also used by terrorists and human traffickers. This situation creates a major challenge for our country and requires a higher level of scrutiny and a coordinated approach at European level to identify the threats against, and be able to ensure, peace and security on the continent.Ms Göth-Flemmich said: Crime does not stop at national borders. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to strengthen the cooperation between the prosecution services in the European Union and beyond. The Consultative Forum provides a key platform to discuss new developments in our common fight against transnational crime.Mr Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust, said: At Eurojust, we serve the joint vision of justice for all our fellow European citizens. This year, Eurojust had once more the special honour and pleasure to welcome at its premises top prosecutors from all EU countries. The Consultative Forum is a unique opportunity for them to share national best practice and work more closely together towards the common goal of protection, security and justice.Counter-terrorismAmong the main topics of the Consultative Forum’s meeting were developments in national legislation in the area of counter-terrorism, current challenges and lessons learned from investigations of terrorism cases, as well as the experience gained through judicial cooperation between EU Member States and third States with the support of Eurojust and Europol. Forum members looked into effective mechanisms to both prevent and combat transnational terrorism, such as the enhanced sharing of information. The conclusions of Eurojust’s annual meeting on counter-terrorism for 2018 were also presented to the Forum’s participants.Eurojust priority areasThis year’s meeting paid special attention to Eurojust’s operational activities in key crime areas, such as migrant smuggling, faster and easier access to e-evidence, with Eurojust in a coordinating role, as well as the effective implementation of the European Investigation Order (EIO), allowing for direct exchange and networking between the judicial authorities of different States. To that effect, the members of the Forum took note of the conclusions of this year’s Eurojust meeting on migrant smuggling and Eurojust meeting on the EIO. The President of Eurojust also seized the opportunity to share his future vision of digital justice in the European Union, in which operational data is exchanged in an automated, structured and secure manner.New Eurojust RegulationForum members were informed about the EU’s new judicial landscape following the reform of Eurojust, and the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). The new Eurojust Regulation is in the final stages of the legislative procedure, awaiting formal adoption by the Council. The new Regulation will provide Eurojust with a new governance set-up and the basis for cooperation with the EPPO, and will be aligned with the EU framework on external relations and data protection. Forum members reflected on the impact of these changes and new opportunities to reinforce judicial cooperation against serious cross-border organised crime.
