NATO receives Angelina Jolie 

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Angelina Jolie and Jens Stoltenberg – Picture by NATO. Wednesday, 31 January 2018, Brussels, NATO Headquarters: UN High Commissioner’s for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Special Envoy Ms. Angelina Jolie visited NATO Headquarters. Welcoming Ms. Jolie, Secretary General Mr. Jens Stoltenberg praised her “strong voice” and “great leadership for empowering women and the fight against sexual violence”. Noting that NATO is based on democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and the UN Charter, Mr. Stoltenberg pointed to the Alliance’s long record of fighting extremist groups which oppress women, like the Taliban and ISIS. “NATO has the responsibility to be a leading protector of women’s rights” he said. NATO has extensive pre-deployment training for soldiers and civilians in the field, and deploys gender advisers to operations. NATO will work to strengthen existing training on combating sexual violence. Monitoring and reporting is a core task for NATO commanders, and the Alliance will work to be faster and more systematic in ways so that perpetrators can be brought to justice. Increased awareness will help put gender violence higher on the agenda and contribute to changing behavior. Mr. Stoltenberg stressed: “we must shine a bright light on these darkest of crimes”. At NATO, Special Envoy Jolie also met with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Deputy Secretary General Ms. Rose Gottemoeller, as well as the Alliance’s new Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Ms. Clare Hutchinson. Ms. Jolie also met with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti, and receive briefings from NATO’s gender advisers in Afghanistan and Kosovo. In December, Secretary General Stoltenberg and Special Envoy Jolie published a joint op-ed entitled “Why NATO must defend women’s rights”. For further information: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_151259.htm

President Abbas’s garners EU support 

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                            On the picture Federica Mogherini and Mahmoud Abbas – Photography by European Union. Monday, 22 January 2018, Brussels: The European Union assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas its support for his ambition to convert East Jerusalem into the capital of an internationally recognized Palestinian state. This being the EU bloc’s latest rejection of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital unilaterally. At a meeting in Brussels held with EU foreign ministers, Abbas repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged EU governments to recognise a State of Palestine summarily, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region. President Abbas also struck a more diplomatic tone than in his recent public remarks, including earlier this month when he said he would only accept a broad, internationally-backed panel to broker any peace talks with Israel. While nine EU governments including Sweden and Poland already recognise Palestine, the 28-nation bloc says such recognition must come as part of a peace settlement. Only Slovenia has recently raised the possibility of recognising the state of Palestine. For further information: Palestine Cabinet: http://www.palestinecabinet.gov.ps/Website/AR/

Hungarian Wines Winners of “Wine of the Year”

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Wine Professional, the most popular wine expo in the Benelux states opened its gates to the public in Amsterdam. A Hungarian Wine Tasting Program was organized on 9 January at the most famous international wine event of the Benelux states. The wine presentation was opened by the guest of honor of the event, Mr András Kocsis, Ambassador of Hungary in the Netherlands. In his speech, he highlighted, this is a great event to celebrate because last November Hungarian wines received prestigious recognition in the Netherlands. Two Hungarian wines were awarded “Wine of the Year 2017″ by the decision of the experts of Wine and Food Professional Association: the Furmint Szepsy of 2015 and the Furmint Percze of 2013. At the event, István Szepsy Jr. presented his family’s white wines, while the unique red wines of Tiffan Winery was presented by Zsolt Tiffán Jr. Jan van Lissum, the director of the event, drew attention to the fact that more and more people are familiar with Hungarian wines in the Netherlands and love them with a passion.    

Kosovo celebrates the 10th Anniversary of its Independence

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On the picture Dr. Mimoza Ahmetaj.

By Dr. Mimoza AhmetajFormer Minister of EU Integration & MP who signed the Declaration of Independence.

February 17th will mark the 10th Anniversary of Kosovo’s independence with Kosovo being the youngest country in Europe and with the youngest population.

Although it is a time for celebration, we should spend few moments to look back at the path we went through, the achievements and the challenges and obstacles we have gone through and think what we aim to achieve in the future.

Ten years ago, on a cold freezing day of February 17, the world woke up with another state on the global map. After many years of struggle, devotion, and dedication from many people, although from different background and different walks of life, they were united in a simple truth: the right for life, liberty, and happiness for generations to come. We have learned that nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.

It took us a long path to get to the destination but finally, the democracy has prevailed, the right to live and breath free, the dream and the will of Kosovo’s people, whenever they’re living, came true. In the freezing day of February in the country covered by the thin layer of snow, the elected people of this nation in coordinated with the most advanced democratic countries throughout the world have gathered together to declare and sign the highest act of the nation-Independence.

Hundreds and thousands of people from all around the world, whose destinies were linked in some sort of way with Kosovo during their lifetime, flooded Kosovo to see the rise of the country, to witness the birth of the state in the beginning of XXI century. It was a privilege to witness that moment of our lives but it was more than an honor to be among those representing the nation and being able to sign on their behalf the Declaration of Independence. The existence of Kosovo was sealed and the bright future of our country was paved. Kosovo was not alone in this path. There were nations from the most advanced global democracies that stood side by side with us in that long run of the statehood the same as they are with us today in a process of the state building.

They were moments of disbelief and distrust that the country will not be able to exist and survive but we managed to show to the world that the will of the people and their commitment, the hard work of our institutions and dedication are the best guarantees that we will stay firm toward fulfilment of our ambitions and the creation of the state who is provider of stability in the region and who has a perspective for the better future. This is the state that belongs to its citizen no matter of their religion or national background.

Over the years, the world has changed, the core democratic values have been challenged, but despite that, Kosovo’s people continue to believe and will never abandon the values which are the core, the essence of liberal democracy and are the ruling model for our country.

Throughout all these years, Kosovo has achieved many successes and marked its short history in the global scene. Beside investments in education, rule of law, reforms in public administration, fight against terrorism, crime and corruption and the rise in the economy of the country, Kosovo has signed the first Stabilisation and Association Agreement with EU, the process that paved the way toward EU integration process and sealed our future to the EU. Kosovo became a member of many regional and international organizations, IOF, IOC, UEFA, and FIFA. Our judo wrestlers such as Majlinda Kelmendi and her team won a gold medal at World Olympic Games in Brazil, hence, Kosovo’s flag was waving on top of all others, a proof that the potential of the young people of Kosovo will prevail over political barriers. Kosovo signers such as Rita Ora, Dua Lipa, Era Istrefi are already shining in the musical world. Our artists such as Sisley Xhafa and Petrit Halilaj are making the history of art throughout the world.

And, of course, countries were not built in ten years … Despite a remarkable progress that we have made, Kosovo is still facing the challenges: UN membership, EU and NATO integration, economic development, increase of foreign investment, education, unemployment, membership in other international organisations, regional cooperation, continuation of reforms in different sectors, are ranked highly in our agenda and it is us who should continue and do our at most for a better Kosovo.

There is still a long way ahead of us but together we can make the years ahead the best years our state has ever had if we can rise above cynicism and doubt and continue to remain united for the better future of our generations to come. It is obvious that all the problems could not be solved over the night but it is important to have good faith and remain committed to our duties and objectives and make the dream of Kosovo’s people come true; to be proud of our achievements and successes, to be proud of being Kosovar, as an equal member state of the EU and NATO.

Happy 10th Anniversary Kosovo! Tomorrow is another day!

H.E. Mr. Shujjat Ali Rathore, Ambassador of Pakistan

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H.E. Shujjat Ali Rathore, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Born on April 17, 1964 in Lahore, Pakistan Holds B.Sc. (Hons) in Marine Science from the University of Karachi Joined Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1992 Served at Headquarters as:
  • Section Officer (Middle East), (1994-1995)
  • Staff Officer to the Foreign Minister, (1999-2001)
  • Director (Finance), (2007-2009)
  • Director General (Headquarters, Finance & Special Projects) 2015-2017
  • Director General (Foreign Minister Office) 2017
Held various diplomatic assignments in the following Pakistan Missions abroad:
  • Second Secretary (Political Affairs), Embassy of Pakistan, Damascus (1995-1999)
  • Consul, Consulate of Pakistan, Birmingham (2001-2004)
  • Counsellor (Political Affairs), Embassy of Pakistan, Jakarta (2004-2007)
  • Minister (Political), Embassy of Pakistan, Washington (2009-2013)
  • Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Pakistan, Beijing (2013-2015)
Married and has two daughters

A Global Displacement Tracking Matrix by the IOM

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On the picture Mr. Martin Wyss, Chief of Mission of  International Organisation for Migration. 

By Guido Lanfranchi.

At the entrance of the Carlton Ambassador’s reception room, Mr. Martin Wyss, Chief of Mission of IOM in the Netherlands, personally received his guests one by one, welcoming them to the IOM The Hague New Year’s Reception. In a crowded and lively room, full of diplomats, IOM workers, and representatives of the Dutch government, Mr. Wyss addressed a wide audience, expressing his “profound gratitude to all the people working in Embassies and in the Dutch government, for the work conducted over the past year” with IOM.

Mr. Wyss soon yielded the floor to his colleague Vivianne van der Vorst, Project Coordinator of the Global Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). Ms. van der Vorst summarized to the attendees the salient points of the DTM mechanism, which is a system to track and monitor displacement and population mobility.” In her presentation, she highlighted the pivotal role that the DTM mechanism can have in “providing critical information to decision-makers,” thus dramatically enhancing the effectiveness of their response to crises and problems.

For additional pictures, please open the link below: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157663460655707
Welcoming His Excellency Dato’s Ahmad Nazri Yusof, Ambassador of Malaysia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The DTM, she explained, has been active in 68 countries across the globe. Thanks to the deployment on the field of about 4,000 data collectors and 200 technical experts, over the last year this incredibly complex mechanism has been able to track more than 15 million individuals. This outstanding data-gathering job enables local and global actors to effectively provide for the needs of millions of migrants.

The DTM data at the macro-level can indeed allow humanitarian aid providers to know, for example, how many people are in a certain camp, and which are their main needs. In addition to that, the DTM mechanism can also provide policy-makers with data at the micro-level, concerning, for instance, the migrants’ drivers for leaving their homes and their intentions for the future. The combination of these two layers of information is pivotal for the elaboration of rapid, meaningful, and effective policies: as a salient point of Ms. van der Vorst’s presentation stated: “Better data = Smarter responses.”

Ms. Vivianne van der Vorst, Project Coordinator of the Global Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

After a general introduction of the DTM mechanism, Ms. van der Vorst presented to an attentive audience three relevant cases in which the DTM has been deployed. Firstly, she mentioned the case of Nigeria, whose Northeastern region has been ravaged by internal conflicts over the last five years; in this context, the mechanism provided by the DTM has been incredibly effective in tracking the presence of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the wide Nigerian territory, thus ensuring a provision of adequate responses to the affected people.

Similarly, the DTM has proved very effective in Indonesia, in the aftermath of a recent earthquake that forced many Indonesians out of their homes. Finally, Ms. van der Vorst praised the outstanding job of all the DTM experts and data collectors currently working in Bangladesh in the midst of the Rohingya refugee crisis; these workers, who have been deployed on the field in a matter of few days after the beginning of the crisis, have gathered and are currently gathering an incredible amount of data, that is continuously being published to inform local and global actors’ responses to the crisis.

In an animated conversation the Ambassador of Egypt, H.E. Amgad Ghaffar, Ms. Rawan Sulaiman, Head of the Palestinean Delegation to the Netherlands, H.E. Sahar Ghanem, Ambassador of Yemen and the Charge d’affaires of Venezuela, Mr. Alvaro Sanchez Cordero.

At the end of the presentation, marked by a warm applause, Mr. Wyss kindly encouraged the attendees to enjoy the food and drinks provided by the Organization. The conversations about the work of IOM continued also during the reception. Ms. van der Vorst talked to several attendees who approached her to congratulate her and to ask several questions.

She discussed, among many issues, about her previous experience as an academic, about her current involvement in the Rohingya crisis, and about the UN-based Cluster Approach for emergency responses.

Similarly, many attendees across the reception room continued to talk about the DTM and the role of IOM in the world, asking questions to the several IOM workers who were attending the event.

 

This event showed to the attendees the extreme complexity of the migration phenomenon; however, at the same time, it also showed that, with the right tools and the right commitment, “promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all” is possible.

The paradox of national institutes for international relations

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By Barend ter Haar.

International affairs by definition involve more than one nation, but think tanks that study international relations are predominantly national in character. This paradox can be easily explained by history, but it is clearly a handicap because understanding an international issue requires a good understanding of the positions of both or more sides.

For a proper understanding, it is usually crucial to know not only the official positions of all the parties involved but also the underlying interests, feelings, and contradictions. It is practically impossible to analyse those underlying emotions and interests from abroad. It requires not only knowledge of the local language, but also a local presence in order to speak directly with the people involved.

However, almost all the European think tanks that study international relations are organized on a national basis and although they might be very well equipped to explain one side of an international issue, they are usually much less well prepared to explain the other side of the story.

The experts working at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, for example, know their way around the Dutch bureaucracy, but much less so in London and Berlin, let alone Warsaw and Moscow.

To address this problem, there are, at least in principle, two possibilities. The first would be to open local branches in as many capitals as possible. Several think tanks have opened offices in Brussels and a few have opened local offices in places like Washington and Moscow, but opening offices in a large number of capitals is beyond the means of even the largest institutes.

The only feasible option is, therefore, cooperation between institutes. Several networks have been set up for that purpose. One of them is the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions (see: http://osce-network.net/) that was set up almost five years ago on the suggestion of the OSCE Secretary General at that time, Lamberto Zannier (since last year OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities). In 2013, Clingendael was among the founding members of the OSCE Network. Since then, membership of the Network has grown to 74 institutes from 40 countries.

The purpose of this track II initiative is to contribute to a common analysis of issues that are relevant for the OSCE. So far, the Network has produced the following seven reports: Threat Perceptions in the OSCE Area (2014) The Future of OSCE Field Operations (Options) (2014) Reviving Co-operative Security in Europe through the OSCE (2015) European Security – Challenges at the Societal Level (2016) Protracted Conflicts in the OSCE Area: Innovative Approaches for Co-operation in the Conflict Zones (2016) The Road to the Charter of Paris; Historical Narratives and Lessons for the OSCE Today (2017) OSCE Confidence Building Measures in the economic and environmental Dimension; current Opportunities and constraints (2017).

The new Dutch Cabinet: profiles of Ministers and State Secretaries. Part II.

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By Anton Lutter.

The new Dutch cabinet has been formed by the VVD, CDA, D’66 and CU political parties under the slogan “Trust in the future”, with Mr. Mark Rutte as third time Netherlands’ Prime Minister. In part I and now part II, we introduced to the readers the new 24 Ministers and State Secretaries.

Continuing our profiles of Ministers and State secretaries start with the former State Secretary of Finance in Rutte II Mr. Eric Wiebes (VVD). Mr. Wiebes will serve as Minister of Economics and the Environment. Born in Delft 1963 he earned a degree in engineering from Delft University of Technology and a MBA from ENSEAD. Employed at said ministry lastly as Deputy-Secretary-General he left the civil service to serve as Deputy-Mayor in Amsterdam in 2010. In 2014 he became State Secretary after the resignation of his predecessor. Mr. Wiebes was earlier employed at Royal Dutch Shell and Mckinsey. His state secretary is Mrs. Mona Keijzer (CDA) married with 5 children and born in 1968 at Edam. She will be concerned with the portfolio of Small Business, Competition, Retail, and Consumer Policy, Digital and Postal Affairs and Telecommunication. Keijzer served as a member of parliament from 2012 until her appointment and from 2007-2012 as Deputy-Mayor of Purmerend. Mrs. Keijzer studied juridical public administration at the University of Amsterdam.

Both the Minister and State Secretary of Defence are women. The King’s commissioner at Overijssel Province and former Mayor of Hof van Twente, is the second woman as Minister of this important ministry. Mrs. Ank Bijleveld (CDA) is 55, after her study public administration at the University of Twente she was a municipal policy adviser but quickly entered parliament in 1989 at which body she served until 2001 becoming a Mayor. Serving in this position slightly more than 6 six years she was appointed State Secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relations until 2010 again entering parliament. After almost seven months she returned to her province of birth as King’s Commissioner.

She’s married having two daughters. Handling the portfolio of Personnel Affairs and Equipment Policy at Defence as State Secretary is Mrs. Barbara Visser (VVD) the sole person in this overview not having been born in The Netherlands. Her cradle: Šibenik in Croatia. She studied finance at the University of Amsterdam and started her career at the Ministry of Finance, later serving as Deputy-Mayor of Zaandam and subsequently in 2012 until 2017 as a member of parliament.

Former Chairman of political party D’66 Mrs. Ingrid van Engelshoven is the new Minister of Education, Culture, and Science. Born in 1966 she studied political science at Radboud University Nijmegen and law at Leiden University. Employed both in the private and public sector she became a Deputy-Mayor for Education of The Hague in 2010 and again in 2014. She resigned in March 2017 after being elected to parliament. She’s known to be an advocate for more women in politics and promotor of empowerment and emancipation, according to her a must because women’s misery derives from financial dependency”.

Minister without portfolio at the same department is Mr. Arie Slob (CU) who will deal with the portfolio of Primary Education, Secondary Education, and Media. Mr. Slob 56 years is married having four children, studied history at the University of Groningen. He started his political career as a City Councillor in Zwolle from 1993 to 2001. He then entered parliament which he served until 2015. A short while director of Historical Center of Zwolle he’s now back in The Hague again.

The new Minister of Infrastructure, Public Works and Water Management Mrs. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (VVD) is the sole minister in Rutte III who has served in the European Parliament in Brussels. As a matter of fact, she served in all the electoral bodies at the different geographical levels, with the exception of the water district. First as City Councillor of Oisterwijk 1994-2006, then as a member of the provincial parliament (Provinciale Staten) of Noord-Brabant from 2003 until 2007 including the executive board (Gedeputeerde Staten) 2007-2010, subsequently as a member of parliament 2010-2014 and lastly the EP until her appointment as Minister. Mrs. Van Nieuwenhuizen studied social geography at Utrecht University. Born in 1963 she’s married having four children.

State secretary is Mrs. Stientje van Veldhoven (D’66) a member of parliament since 2010 and earlier a civil servant at the Ministry of Economics and European Commission after serving as the First Secretary at the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Brussels. Mrs. van Veldhoven who is 44 years of age, studied policy and management in international organizations at the University of Groningen.

Mr. Wouter Koolmees (D’66) born in 1977 is the new minister of Social Affairs and Employment. Before he was elected to parliament in 2010 he was employed as head of budget policy of the Directorate-General of State Budget at the Ministry of Finance. He studied economics at Utrecht University. State Secretary at said ministry is Mrs. Tamara van Ark (VVD), born in 1974 she will be responsible for the portfolio of unemployment insurances, equality, long-term unemployment, Poverty and Youth Policy. As Mr. Koolmees she was elected to parliament in 2010. Earlier she has been employed both in the private and public sector before appointed as Deputy-Mayor in Nieuwerkerk aan de IJssel and its successor Zuidplas. She has earned her masters degree in public administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Former The Hague Deputy-Mayor Mr. Bruno Bruins (VVD) is the minister without portfolio of Medical Care at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. 54 years of age he studied law and public administration at the University of Groningen. Before his appointment, he was the chairman of the executive board of UWV and earlier, amongst others, Deputy-Mayor of Traffic 2002-2006, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science from 2006 until 2007, Interim Mayor of Leidschendam-Voorburg and Managing-Director of the public transport company Connexxion.

State Secretary at this ministry is Mr. Paul Blokhuis (CU). His portfolio consists of Mental Healthcare, War victims and Wellness promotion. Born in 1963 Mr. Blokhuis studied history at Leiden University. In 2003 he was elected to the provincial parliament of Gelderland. In 2006 he served as Deputy-Mayor of Apeldoorn until his appointment as State Secretary. He’s married having four daughters. The last member of the government to be mentioned is Mr. Raymond Knops (CDA). He serves in the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations as State secretary concerned with Kingdom Relations, which deals with Dutch Caribbean islands. 45 years of age Mr. Knops studied at the Royal Military Academy in Breda and subsequently public administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Until his appointment, he was a member of parliament since 2005 and previously Deputy-Mayor of Horst aan de Maas from 1999 until 2005. He’s Married having two children. Mr.Knops is sole professional military in the government.

Turkey and the Ottoman dream

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By Corneliu Pivariu. President Tayyip Recep Erdogan declared once: “Democracy is like a taxi. One gets off of it once the destination is reached.” It seems that after becoming the AKP leader, president Erdogan got off, he and the party, of the taxi before reaching the destination. Nevertheless, no one can say that president Erdogan’s achievements are not remarkable since he won the elections in November 2002, although he had to wait until March 2003 to assume the position of prime minister. Contrary to other parties that wanted to represent political Islam in Turkey, AKP showed interest in the evolution towards democratic values and human rights, backed the status of NATO member and joining the European Union, and all that allowed him to attract an increased number of votes and, although he got only a third of the votes, it was enough to secure two-thirds of the parliamentary seats. That was due also to increasing the electoral threshold to 10% (for preventing the Kurdish formations to join the parliament), a threshold other numerous parties were not to reach either. In his 15 years in power, Erdogan and AKP succeeded in making substantial changes in Turkey. Firstly it is about the standard of living, from a society made up in its majority of poor people to a society with a strong middle class. It is likely that Erdogan’s most important political achievement domestically was the gradual removal of the influence the military have had in politics. As of 2013, important changes in domestic policy started to take place and Erdogan’s leadership became more and more authoritarian with totalitarian elements; as Atatürk before him, Erdogan wishes to change the society yet in a different direction. He intends that women return to the traditional role and he told them even how many children they must have. Also, the religious schools outgrew the secular and universal school system devised by Atatürk. The number of the religious students increased from 60,000 in 2002 to around 1.5 million in 2016. The so-called coup attempt of July, 2016 allowed president Erdogan to proceed with an extended purge of the army, the judiciary, public administration that went on until the end of 2017, when several hundreds of civil servants and military were discharged from office for strengthening the control of the presidency over important sectors. It remains to be seen how quickly valuable replacements for those arrested or discharged can be found, especially in the military field as there is no solution yet guaranteeing the same efficiency of the army corps. It is the reason we witness undertakings for increasing the role of gendarmerie outside the country, especially in coordination with othe Euro-Asian police forces. Turkish Gendarmerie had around 180,000 military at the end of November 2017 (60% of them professionals, officers included, and 40% conscripts). The Gendarmerie General Command has a close co-operation with similar bodies in Italy and France, training programs and joint equiping with Macedonia, Gambia and Somalia. Turkey is an active member of the Association of the European and Mediterranean Police Force and Gendarmeries with Military Status (FIEP), observer in the framework of the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF). In 2018 it is intended to reactivate the Organization of Law Enforcement Agencies with Military Status – TAKM (according to the names of the founding states – Turkey, Azerbaidjan, Kyrkystan and Mongolia) established in 2013 in Baku. By the end of 2017, president Erdogan paid a visit to Africa and, in the Sudan he agreed with the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir the lease of the Suakin island for building there a military base which will be added to those in Somalia (opened in September 2017) and Doha (100 military now, and the forces will increase to 3,000 in the end). Since 2005, the number of Turkish embassies in Africa increased from 12 to 38 now. On December 24th, 2017, president Erdogan signed a decree stipulating the whole process of army’s endowment is taken over by his direct authority. Will the developments in the economic field contribute to the achievement of the Ottoman dream? They do not exclusively depend on president Erdogan. ——- About the author: Corneliu Pivariu, former first deputy for military intelligence (two stars general) in the Romanian MoD, retired 2003. Member of IISS – London, alumni of Harvard – Kennedy School Executive Education and others international organizations. Founder of INGEPO Consulting, and bimonthly Bulletin, Geostrategic Pulse”. Main areas of expertise – geopolitics, intelligence and security. ——- Photographer Ionus Paraschiv  

Municipal council elections March 21, 2018

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By Caroline Klaver – Bouman.

In the Netherlands, elections to the municipal council take place once every four years. The next ones are on March 21, 2018.

What quite a few diplomats and other expats do not know is that they can also vote in the local elections in the municipality they live in. EU citizens need to meet the same requirements as Dutch nationals, while non-EU citizens only need to have been legally resided in the Netherlands for at least 5 years. More voting details at the end of this article.

The municipality council decides on a lot of matters that have a real impact on the immediate living environment. For example, garbage collection, shopping area and parking, street facilities and local (sport) facilities. So, if you want to have an impact on the environment you live in at the moment, we would encourage you to use your right and vote on March 21.

I live in Wassenaar, as well as quite a few diplomats and expats. I am one of the candidates for the VVD in Wassenaar, the VVD is the political party of the H.E. Prime Minister, Mr. Mark Rutte. However, in Wassenaar we have been in the opposition for the last four years. We would like to create a better understanding of your needs. If we know what Wassenaar lacks for you, we can try to fight your battle, your voice could be heard on a local level.

In order to gather all your wishes and comments we joined forces with Diplomats magazine.

Readers of DiplomatMagazine.nl are more than welcome to join us. More details will follow shortly on wassenaar.vvd.nl.

We would like to stay in touch with you through quarterly meetings to ensure we have an open dialogue and can represent you better in the municipality council.

Requirements for voting

The same requirements for casting their vote in the municipal council elections apply to Dutch nationals and EU citizens. A voter needs to meet the following requirements: i) he/she must be 18 years of age or over, ii) he/she may not be debarred from voting, iii) he/she must have been a resident of a Dutch municipality on nomination day, as evidenced by the Base Registry Persons. These requirements apply equally to all non-EU citizens who have legally resided in the Netherlands for at least five years. In other words, possessing Dutch nationality is not a requirement to be entitled to vote in the municipal council elections.

Everyone eligible to vote will receive an invitation to cast their vote sent to their home address no later than fourteen days prior to election day. This invitation includes their poll card. The poll card allows the voter to cast their vote in one of the polling station of their choice within the municipality’s borders.

Voters unable to cast their vote in person on election day may have their vote cast by proxy.

Polling stations are open from 7.30 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.