By Jhr. Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice (Judge) in the (Dutch) Court of Appeal and honorary Special Advisor International Affairs, appointed by the Mayor and Aldermen of The Hague For some decades criminals are no longer only simple thiefs and burglars, but people who run international organizations and work with high tech. If police organizations want to attack those people and organizations, they have to be international and have to work with high tech as well. That is why in 1992 in the Treaty of Maastricht (in The Netherlands) the EU countries of that time decided to create EUROPOL: the European Police Office, to be based in The Hague. In 1999 the organization was operational and since 2011 EUROPOL has a newly built office on the Eisenhowerlaan, close to other international organizations. EUROJUST –the organization of European Public Prosecutors that works close together with EUROPOL- is building a new office in that area as well. In the 21st century new kinds of crimes appeared and of course EUROPOL wants to attack them. In 2013 EUROPOL started a new centre: the European Cybercrime Centre (‘EC3’) to strengthen the law enforcement response to cybercrime in the European Union and to help protect European citizens, businesses and governmemts. This year, 2016, EUROPOL started no less than three new activities: In January 2016 the European Counter Terrorism Centre (‘ECTC’), that will be an enhanced central information hub by which the Member States can increase information sharing and operational coordination. In February 2016 the European Migrant Smuggling Centre (‘EMSC’), that will proactivily support EU Member States in dismantling criminal networks involved in organised migrant smuggling. In July 2016 the International Property Crime Coordinated Coalition (‘IPC3’), to act against infringements of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), a widespread and ever-increasing phenomenon wordwide, in which in 2013 no less than 338 billion euro were involved, the equivalent of the GPD of Austria or the combined GPD of Ireland and the Czech Republic. The City of The Hague is proud that such extremely important new organizations against very serious modern crimes all are based in our international city of peace an justice. a.beelaerts@planet.nl    

On the picture Mr Manolis Arvanitis. The city of peace, justice and security, is in constant evolution; new organisations, new diplomats and new services regularly popping up in The Hague. Some of these new things are already part of our system and in the last few years have become mandatory for every embassy or diplomat that has moved into town. The indispensable Diplomatic Card or ‘free tax card’, as few refer to it, has been offering tax return services to diplomats in the Netherlands for several years already and more and more diplomats are finding their own ways to obtain this precious card. “This is logical, because we are taking a lot of work off their shoulders”, says General Manager Mr Manolis Arvanitis. Arvanitis is working for the company almost five years now and he sees a lot of changes since the beginning. “We offer the FUEL and the VAT service in the Netherlands. This means that Diplomats and other eligible can fuel up with a multiband card at any gas station – and this is an unique service – in the Netherlands, without paying for the VAT and excises on the spot. The VAT service offers a VAT card that allows eligible persons to shop VAT free on the spot in all connected shops”. With this service the paperwork for getting the VAT and/or excises reimbursed is no longer needed. “In the beginning the people were reluctant and careful in using the card. I can imagine this, because everything that is new, needs time to prove itself”, Arvanitis continues, “But the service shows how easy it can be done” “When a retailer is not connected to the network of DCC, it is easy to get your VAT reimbursed. Send the VAT included invoice to us and we will pay you the VAT amount back within 48 hours after approval of your privilege”. It was also Diplomatic Card who has taken care of the privilege for BO status which was wrongly reduced to one year. Arvanitis: “After long and intensive discussions with the tax administration, we could prove that the BO status was 10 years instead of one year. We are very happy that we could give this service to our clients, resulting a positive feedback regarding our intervention in this case. Therefore all privileged persons could receive back their excise which they did not receive for several months”. Diplomatic Card is working closely with Diplomat Magazine, sponsoring the monthly Meet & Greet’s events at Carlton Ambassador Hotel and the Ceremonies of Merit for departing Ambassador’s, also other diplomatic events thru the year. “We are involve in the Diplomatic life in the Hague”, says Manolis Arvanitis, “this is the only way we can hear and learn better what is going on for the Diplomats; what shops they would like to have in the network, what problems regarding VAT reimbursements they are facing etc.”. —– Mr Manolis Arvanitis, General Manager of Diplomatic Card. Photography by Kim Vermaart.      

  As a school that does not pre-select students for the challenging International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, American School of The Hague (ASH) supports all students with the capabilities, commitment and drive in their desire to undertake the IB Diploma. As with each year, it takes passion, planning and hard work on behalf of both the students and their teachers, to deliver excellent results – this year was no exception. As in previous years, the graduates of the 2015-2016 school year delivered a laudable 94% pass rate on their IB exams (51/54) with all students achieving above the required 24 points. The global average score for the IB Diploma was 30 points and the ASH students achieved an average score of 35 points, 5 points above the global average. It is extremely rewarding to see that 22% of the ASH students achieved 40 points or higher; 43% achieved 36 points or higher and a superb 92% achieved in excess of the global average of 30 points. In that light, we are also very honored to share the results of the students who undertook the exams for the Advanced Placement (AP) program. In May 2016, ASH administered 225 exams to 83 AP students. With the same philosophy used for the IB program, ASH does not pre-select students for inclusion in the AP program but rather encourages students to challenge themselves in one or more areas of interest in Grades 11 and/or 12 to give them a realistic taste of the expectations of university work. Thus, students this year sat anywhere from 1 to as many as 6 exams with an average of nearly 3 exams per student. The average global AP score was 2.84 out of 5 but the average score for ASH students per AP exam was 3.72 out of 5. Globally, 58% of students received a passing grade of 3 or higher but when we talk about ASH students, we can proudly say that 84% received a passing grade of 3 or higher. Moreover, only 13.3% of students received the highest mark of 5 out of 5 on AP exams globally. At ASH, an impressive 32% of students received a 5 on one or more exams.

By Duke Michael of Mecklenburg. A new diplomatic group for the City of Peace and Justice: the Young Diplomats’ Club The Hague! Founded by Thomas John Aciaarb, Attaché to the Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH); Lucas Otero Peterka, Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of Peru; and Michael Mecklenburg, the YDCTH took off in style in August 2016. The Young Diplomats’ Club strives to provide an informal platform to members of the Corps Diplomatique, the Dutch Ministries and the International Organisations in The Hague. Thomas John ACIArb notes that “Our program will be designed to connect the many young diplomats, including their families, in an informal way to establish strong — personal, but of course, also professional — networks and ties.” Lucas Otero Peterka adds “So far, The Hague has been missing such a platform, which is well known in capitals and international cities around the world. It is the pleasure for us to bring the idea to The Hague for the benefit of the wider Diplomatic Community”. Michael Mecklenburg highlights that the membership is open and free, adding that “The Young Diplomats’ Club can easily be reached [Facebook, email [ydcthehague@gmail.com]. Or just become part of our mailing list accessible from our http://ydcthehague.jimdo.com/”. Diplomat Magazine congratulates the Young Diplomats’ Club The Hague and will continue to keep the Diplomatic Community posted on their events.  

Pictured Florian Volz and Timo Schmidt. By Duke Michael of Mecklenburg. In June, two students started a long journey, the Refugee Road, at the Peace Palace in The Hague. After two-and-a-half months of cycling they finished successfully in Lesvos in Greece. These two men are Florian Volz and Timo Schmidt. Both are students of the BA International Studies at Leiden University. The road of people fleeing their homes contains not only the Balkan Route, but leads also through Central and Western Europe to The Hague. It includes about 3500 km, which have now been captured on camera by Florian and Timo in about 80 gigabits of film material. Their aim is to make a road documentary about this journey with all its hardship and difficulties, but also hope, telling the stories of the daily refugee reality. Through this, they hope to bring forth more information into the European Migration Crisis discussion. However, the post-production of this documentary now needs sufficient funding. Diplomat Magazine sees this project of these two young journalists as a significant vivid contribution to the discussion around the migration crisis, which also is present among Diplomats and international organisations. Furthermore, we express our gratitude towards and thank these two keen young journalists for their dedication. More information about Refugee Roads can be found at: https://diplomatmagazine.eu/2016/06/05/cycling-the-refugee-road/ the introductory article www.refugeeroads.com where you can re-visit every step of their bicycle tour along the Balkan Route https://cinecrowd.com/nl/refugee-roads where you can watch the teaser and contribute to the realisation of Refugee Roads. If you are interested, questions and feedback are welcome just as much as highly appreciated -and needed – donations to their crowdfunding campaign.