Andorra’s PM Antoni Marti and President Tusk – Picture by EU. Brussels, Thursday, 6 October 2016: President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk met with the Head of Government of the Principality of Andorra Antoni Martí Petit.  They discussed EU-Andorra relations, particularly the ongoing negotiations on an association agreement with Andorra.

For the record, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision authorising the opening of negotiations on one or several association agreement(s) between the EU and the Principality of Andorra, the Principality of Monaco and the Republic of San Marino in December 2014. The agreement(s) will provide for the participation of the three countries in the EU single market. The negotiations of one or several association agreement(s) started on May 2015. For further information: Andorra’s PM: https://www.govern.ad/el-cap-de-govern ——— Photography by European Union  

On the picture first row: H.E. Eduardo Ibarrola, Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Sergio Ugalde Godinez Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica, H.E. Fermin Quinones Sanchez, Ambassador of Cuba, H.E  Mr. Nourredine Ayadi, Ambassador of Algeria, H.E. Mr. Adam Maznavee Jaufer Sadiq, Ambassador of Sri Lanka, H.E. Mr. Abdulaziz Abdullah Abdulaziz Abohaimed, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia. Second row: H.E. Dr. Christoph Israng, German Ambassador to the OPCW, H.E. Carlos Herrera, Ambassador of Peru, Mrs Ekaterina Dugladze, Counsellor, Embassy of Georgia and Mr Boris A.Zhilko, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of Russia. After two years serving his country in the Netherlands, H.E. Fermin Quinones Sanchez and his wife Amaira are going back to La Havana. It was his second assignment in The Hague. Ambassador Quinonez was previously posted here as First Secretary in early 90s. For additional Kim Vermaat’s pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157675365861280

Diplomat Magazine hosted a Ceremony of Merit and farewell on Friday 21 October at Carlton Ambassador Hotel during a reception held in his honour. Ambassador Fermin Quinones personally welcomed his close friends and colleagues, flanked by his lovely wife, Amaria. Diplomat Magazine handled to them a well deserved Certificate of Merit, our recognition to parting heads of diplomatic missions.

H.E. Sergio Ugalde Godinez Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica was the guest speaker of the evening addressing particular professional attributes of Ambassador Fermin Quinones. Ambassador Godinez recalled Ambassador Quinones’ highlights, notably: a visit of Cuban Foreign Minister to the Netherlands in April 2015 and the visit of Dutch Foreign Minister to La Havana a few months later. As for this year, Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade, H.E. Lilianne Ploumen visited Cuba. Also, Cuban Minister for Foreign Trade and investment visited the Netherlands. Ambassador Fermin Quinones has been instrumental in the visit of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, alongside state visits to Cuba from prime ministers of Aruba, Curacao and St Martin.

Sergio Ugalde Godinez called for a round of applause for this extraordinary diplomat, wishing Fermin Quinones, his wife Amaria and family a safe and great journey back home. A second speech was delivered by H.E. Eduardo Ibarrola Ambassador of Mexico, expressing many other personal achievements of Ambassador Fermin Quinones during his two year tenure in The Hague. A photo- shooting session and a reception with Cuban music, concluded the Ceremony of Merit, within a warmth and friendly ambiance. The Ceremony of Merit and farewell to parting Ambassadors are sponsored by Diplomat Magazine, Diplomatic Card and Carlton Ambassador Hotel.

H.E. Ambassador Willys Delvalle.   H.E. Willys Delvalle, Ambassador of the Republic of Panama, proudly welcomed all who came to congratulate him on his country’s 113th Independence Day. The venue chosen for the celebration was the Marriott Hotel in The Hague where guests enjoyed the warmth of Panama. Many head of missions and diplomats from Latin America, Europe and the Middle East cheered Ambassador Delvalle after his speech on Panama’s growing economy and foreign direct investments. Panama a solid place for foreign investment Ambassador Willys Delvalle has many reasons to be proud. Panama is doing economically well, taking advantage of its extraordinary geographical location. Ambassador Delvalle then went on to give an overview of his beloved Panama’s achievements; he started by recounting how centuries ago Panama was used as a logistical hub by the Spain, transporting merchandise from the West coast of South America to Europe. “Today” Delvalle states, “our country has developed a strategy of Panama as a “Worldwide Logistic Hub”, and in this regard, we have invested in the construction of infrastructure for ports, airports and highways, logistics free zones in both coasts and of course the expanded Panama Canal offering the best practices in the sector.” For additional Kim Vermaat’s pictures please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157674994801242

Panama envisages offering new business within the expanded Canal. This will include: commercial activities that will give added value to the Canal route with the construction of Roll-on Roll-off terminal, logistic parks, pipelines, ship repair industry, Top-off operations, power generation, LNG terminal, and the construction of a container terminal to increase the capacity in the Pacific by 5.3 million TEUs with full connectivity to the trans-isthmian railroad. The Panama Canal has this year received a rating of “A” from various international institutions and the International Maritime Organization has recognized that the enlargement of the Canal will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions. For environmental purposes the country is preparing to host the International Center for the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD = PLUS), inviting the international community to sign the Agreement and be part of this key initiative of the global climate agenda.

“Panama has a flourishing economy according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), expected to remain strong and remain as one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an estimated increase of 5.2% in 2016 and 5.8% in 2017. Panama’s greatest asset is her people; each Panamanian daily takes pride in his work, traditions, cultural events, dance, art, music and gastronomy. We like to share with you that Panama is preparing itself to become the Ibero-American Capital of Culture in 2019 and that same year host the World Youth Day with over 1 million attending.” Ambassador Willys Delvalle concluded his address by observing, “as we today, 1st November 2016 celebrate our 113th anniversary of Independence, we would like to invite you to share in something that is genuinely Panamanian, images of our country and a taste of our typical flavours. Thank you all for coming.”

A delicious comfort Panamanian’s food was served generously, the music and the welcoming atmosphere was remarkable, people stayed until the very end; congratulations to Armonia Chang de Belchieur, Minister Counsellor and the team of the Panamanian Embassy, a great event.

H.E. Samuel Otsile Outlule and ACP Group’s Secretary General Dr Patrick Gomes. Brussels, 30 September 2016: The 50th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Botswana was celebrated by a rather elegant and well-attended reception at the Concert Noble hosted by the country’s Ambassador HE Mr Samuel Outlule, who heads the missions of Botswana whose chancery is located in Brussels and is accredited to the EU, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, the French Republic, the OPCW, UNESCO and the ACP Group of States. 

After the playing of Botswana’s national anthem, and the Belgian by the Brussels Philharmonic, Ambassador Outlule highlighted the achievements of the Botswana, which have made the country an exceptionally developed country in sub-Saharan Africa; a true success story in the past 50 years.  Ambassador Outlule also took the opportunity to recognise her staff members for their service to Botswana.  For further information: Missions of Botswana in Brussels: http://www.botswana-brussels.com/directory    

H.E. Eduardo Ibarrola, Ambassador of Mexico and Alejandra Saldaña, daughter of the artist. Exhibition Mexican Embassy – November 2016 The Ambassador of Mexico H.E. Eduardo Ibarrola hosted an impressive exhibition at the well known Embassy gallery to celebrate the life of the Mexican / Dutch artist Nancy van Oververldt 1930 – 2015 “Vivencias Mexicanas, my Mexican Experiences”. Many diplomats, art collectors and people related to art in different ways attended the vernissage including the daughter of the artist Alejandra Saldaña, who actually live in Lelystad.

This exhibition focuses on the paintings and life of the artist Nancy van Overveldt who worked and lived in Mexico for 25 years, from 1952 till the end of the seventies, when she returns to The Netherlands. Born in 1930 in The Hague, Nancy van Overveldt studied painting at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1951 she continued with her study on painting in Paris and in 1952 Nancy left for Mexico, driven by a deep longing to discover a new world. In Mexico Nancy van Overveldt found herself in a world of brilliant light and huge dimensions, where people live amidst the interplay of cosmic forces. There she lived many lives and made her experiences visible in her paintings, on which we see naïve realism, compositions of the absurd and impressionistic figures captured in scenes of Mexican parties. The wonderful soul of Mexico with its hospitable people, the bright colors, festivals, dances, rites and music, had a great influence in the development of her work as a painter. She used to merge into Mexican life and travelled throughout the country in local buses, walking, over mountains to remote villages, sharing life and rites with the local people and at the end transforming these experiences into beautiful paintings, portraits and drawings in her specific style. Painting was always an organic process for her, were colors and rhythms emerged on the canvas without being conceived on forehand. In México Nancy van Overveldt achieved fame through many exhibitions including the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Galería Antonio Souza and Galería Chapultepec. For more than forty years she was a member of the Artist’s Association of Mexico, ‘El Salon de la Plástica Mexicana’, and exhibited there several times. Under the pseudonym ‘Dolores Cienfuegos’ Nancy captured her experiences also in the book of stories “Vivencias Mexicanas”.

Still, Nancy never lost her Dutch roots. In a time when the bike was a rarity in the hectic streets of México City, it was for Nancy van Overveldt the most natural thing in the world to take her daughters to school on the bike. In the seventies, her work expressed movements of water, fire and air. Paintings called ‘Transformations’ appear; huge colourful canvases were forms continuously merge into other forms that often culminate in the figure of a bird, which seems to fly out of the canvas. These expressive transformation paintings, mark the beginning of a new period of Nancy van Overveldt’s life where she decided to return to Holland. In 1976 Nancy returned to the Netherlands. In this more dark and compact world a new path to follow developed, by observing nature were birds, trees, clouds and the repetitive reflections on dark water become ever smaller and are drawn to the low light on the horizon. From 1980, the horizon would become the source of Nancy’s inspiration. From one point on the canvas, round and pointed patterns emerge becoming larger like an explosion, as they spiral out to the edges. It takes months to bring harmony into these playful patterns. Later, living in the polder landscape of Lelystad, her work is influenced by spaces, wind and sunrays and continues to develop.  In her latest paintings, the horizon becomes an arch and openings are created to other spaces where interesting figures tell amazing stories. Nancy van Overveldt painted every single day of her life and continued painting till the end of her life, June 2015, when she passed away. This exhibition, focuses on her earliest paintings made in México, and portrays on one hand, the swirling, colorful life of Mexico and on the other hand is a selection of the Transformation paintings and a subsequent period, that of entering her inner world, amidst the more structured Dutch atmosphere, were she later pictures the changing colors of the seasons in rhythmic landscapes with horses, bulls, birds and bicycles. Nancy van Overveldt in her own unique way, was a bridge between these two beautiful worlds Mexico and The Netherlands, that represented the source of inspiration for her paintings. The reception hosted at the Mexican Gallery in The Hague greets Nancy’s art and Mexican general culture as well. ————— For visits or additional information: Mexican Embassy: cultura@embamex.nl / 070 310 8957 Website: nancyvanoverveldtcollection.com Email: infoart@nancyvanoverveldtcollection.com  / +31(0)3565810  

By Roy Lie A Tjam. The first ever biking spree for diplomats in The Hague was held on Saturday, 5 November 2016. The group of participants was made up of cyclists of all ages, first-time riders/new riders as well as veteran riders. Participating were Ambassadors, diplomats, from Bangladesh, Iraq, Malaysia, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Israel, Indonesia, Belgium, Turkey, USA, Italy and Japan. For additional Kim Vermaat’t pictures please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157674903236071

The objectives of the ride were to promote inclusion and to provide an opportunity for networking; all while having fun and exploring The Hague’s beautiful environment.

The biking spree departed from Carlton Ambassador Hotel, travelled in the direction of Wassenaar, and returned via Haagse Bos to end at the Buitenhof in the city centre. Along the way, stops were made at interesting sights and group photos were taken at the rear of the Palace Huis ten Bosch and a nearby lake.

  Following the bike ride, all participants were invited for lunch at a renowned restaurant in the center of The Hague. Diplomat magazine appreciates the participation of all attendees and their contributions to making this a very successful event. We hope that it will become an annual event.