Valediction China style

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Valediction China style
Mrs. Wenci Li and husband H. E. Xu Chen. By Roy Lie A Tjam. The diplomatic community in The Hague turned out in full force to bid farewell to H.E. Mr. Xu Chen Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China and his wife Mrs. Wenci Li. The reception took place at the Embassy on the 13th April 2016 where Ambassador Xu Chen vividly recalled his first moments when he and his wife landed in The Hague exactly this time three years ago. 201604130041The sun was shining and all the flowers in bloom, he also reflected upon how his time in The Hague has been a pleasant one, however, like with all pleasant things the time has come for him to bid farewell to the Netherlands. Ambassador Xu Chen held his valediction address commenting specifically on Gratitude, Confidence and Win-win.
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H. E. Alireza Jahangiri Ambassador of Iran and wife Mariam together with Mrs. Wenci Li.
Gratitude – Ambassador Xu Chen, thanked The Hague for what he has experienced and expressed his gratitude to the Netherlands for their fruitful cooperation and hospitality. He then went on thank the Embassy staff for their relentless and imperative support, his fellow ambassadors, the Chinese business community and finally the students, highlighting how they play an important role because they are future Ambassadors.
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H. E. Bret Mason Ambassador of Australia, H. E. Igor Popov Ambassador of Macedonia, Ambassador of Egypt Taher Farahat and the Mayor of Wassenaar the Honorable Jan Hoekema.
Confidence – The centuries long relationship between the two countries will continue to flourish and the bilateral and multilateral relations will be further strengthened. Meaningful cooperation will be translated into prosperity and China will continue to strive for a better and stable world economy. Win-Win – Lets join hands and work together towards a stable and prosperous world. China will do well despite of the difficult period she is currently experiencing. A reception and dinner-buffet concluded the evening. For additional Kim Vermaat’s pictures, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157667157906326

Malbec in the Netherlands

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Malbec in the Netherlands

H.E. Ambassador Héctor Horacio Salvador, Ambassador of the Argentinean Republic.

Text and pictures by Kim K. Vermaat.

Every year a tour of Malbec wine tastings is organized around the world, visiting the Netherlands this year. But the 200 year independence of Argentina was also celebrated at this Reception.

 

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Many Ambassadors and spouses attended the event on a sunny afternoon at the banks of the Bergse plassen in Rotterdam with an ideal Dutch landscape as surroundings.

Besides excellent wines, the guests were able to enjoy a Tango performance and an introduction in Argentinean wine.

For additional pictures, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157667101475466

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The Mendel 2008, which can be found in many upmarket restaurants around the world, was particularly appreciated as a matured wine, wood, tannin with a blackberry and vanilla after taste.9W1A96609W1A9708

 

Human trafficking network dismantled

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Human trafficking network dismantled
As a result of a large-scale investigation and joint operational activities carried out last week, Police Scotland, Romanian National Police and D.I.I.C.O.T, supported by Eurojust and Europol, dismantled a Romanian organised criminal network involved in trafficking of Romanian victims for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Scotland. The action day by Police Scotland was 8 April 2016. The Romanian authorities deployed police officers and a prosecutor in the UK during the action day, which was supported on-the-spot by Europol experts, and resulted in four house searches, the arrest of one suspect, the referral to the Prosecutor’s Office of a number of other suspects, and the safeguarding of eight potential trafficking victims. During the action day, cash, mobile telephones and other valuable items were seized. The operation was preceded by extensive and complex investigations and analytical support, assisted by Eurojust and Europol. This support included facilitating information exchange and analysis, organising operational meetings at Europol and delivering real-time cross-checks of all data gathered in the course of the field action through the deployment of Europol’s mobile office, and two Europol analysts in the UK to extract and analyse telephone data. A joint investigation team (JIT) was set up between the UK and Romanian authorities following a coordination meeting held at Eurojust. The JIT became operational very quickly with Eurojust’s assistance. For further information, please contact the national authorities in the UK and Romania.    

EU Tax Transparency Rules for Multinationals

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EU Tax Transparency Rules for Multinationals
Pictured Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis. European Commission proposes public tax transparency rules for multinationals The Commission is today leading the way towards greater corporate tax transparency by introducing public reporting requirements for the largest companies operating in the EU.   Today’s proposal builds on the Commission’s work to tackle corporate tax avoidance in Europe, estimated to cost EU countries EUR 50-70 billion a year in lost tax revenues. Supplementing other proposals to introduce sharing of information between tax authorities, it would require multinationals operating in the EU with global revenues exceeding EUR 750 million a year to publish key information on where they make their profits and where they pay their tax in the EU on a country-by-country basis. The same rules would apply to non-European multinationals doing business in Europe. In addition, companies would have to publish an aggregate figure for total taxes paid outside the EU. This proposal is a simple, proportionate way to increase large multinationals’ accountability on tax matters without damaging their competitiveness. It will apply to thousands of large firms operating in the EU, without affecting small and medium-sized companies. The proposal also provides for stronger transparency requirements for companies’ activities in countries which do not observe international standards for good governance in the area of taxation. The Commission will build on its External Tax Strategy with the aim of establishing the first common EU list of such tax jurisdictions as rapidly as possible. Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue said: “The fight against tax avoidance is a key priority of this Commission. Close cooperation between tax authorities must go hand in hand with public transparency. Today, we are making information on income taxes paid by multinational groups readily available to the public, without imposing new burdens for SMEs and with due respect for business secrets. By adopting this proposal, Europe is demonstrating its leadership in the fight against tax avoidance”. Commissioner Jonathan Hill said: “Our economies and societies depend on a tax system that’s fair, a principle that applies both to individuals and to business. Yet today, by using complicated tax arrangements, some multinationals can pay nearly a third less tax than companies that only operate in one country. Our proposal to increase transparency will help make companies more accountable. It will promote fairer competition between companies regardless of their size”. Today’s proposal will amend the Accounting Directive (Directive 2013/34/EU) to ensure that large groups publish annually a report disclosing the profit and the tax accrued and paid in each Member State on a country-by-country basis. This information will remain available for five years. Contextual information (turnover, number of employees and nature of activities) will enable an informed analysis and will have to be disclosed for every EU country in which a company is active, as well as for those tax jurisdictions that do not abide by tax good governance standards (so-called tax havens). Aggregate figures will also have to be provided for operations in other tax jurisdictions in the rest of the world. The proposal has been carefully calibrated to ensure that no confidential business information would be published. Building on and complementing the recent Commission initiatives against tax avoidance (IP/16/159), this mandatory public country-by-country reporting will enable citizens to scrutinise the tax behaviour of multinationals. This will, in turn, encourage companies to pay tax where they make their profit. This reporting will also support efforts to gain a better insight into Member States’ tax systems and help identify existing loopholes and mismatches, thereby shedding more light on the causes and consequences of corporate tax avoidance.  

Rwandans commemorate victims

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Rwandans commemorate victims
The 7th of April 2016 marks an important day for all Rwandans as it commemorates the Victims of the Genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda, which took place in 1994. This year’s commemoration marked its 22nd commemoration and a remembrance event was hosted by H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga, Ambassador of Rwandan and Ibuka, an organization for the survivors of the genocide, at the Hilton Hotel in The Hague on the 8th of April. For additional pictures, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157667107201505 DSC_0127 This period also known as Kwibuka22 ( you can visit #Kwibuka22 online activities ), which means To Remember , is the beginning of a 100 day mourning period in remembrance of those who have perished in the genocide and will end on July 4th , which marks the date of the end of the genocide by the RPF movement , which saved many genocide survivors . The tragic events, which took place in 1994 during 100 days of mass killings, took the lives of over 1 million innocent people and left many homeless, without families, with physical and psychological wounds. However, the horror that Rwandans lived through during those 100 days was only the end of a long and painful 30 years period of discrimination, sufferance, exclusion and persecution of Tutsi people by an extremist regime. Due to systematic planning of eradicating the Tutsi people in Rwanda, the genocide ideology was promoted over years. This year’s commemoration highlighted the danger of genocide ideology and therefore this year’s motto called for a united fight against genocide ideology. Rwanda Genocide commemoration The commemoration event , which marked the 22nd commemoration were respectful and mirrored the horror that had happened. The women were beautifully dressed in long light colored traditional Rwandan gowns and a picture of the current Rwandan president Paul Kagame (who led the military campaign that put the end to the genocide) was displayed at the front accompanied by the Rwandan flag. The event was well attended and guests from all nationalities and age groups gathered to stand with Rwandans to show their support. Amongst the distinguished guests where many members of the diplomatic community and many members of Rwandan in The Netherlands. The evening allowed its guests to remember the genocide against the Tutsis of Rwanda in a respectful environment, which started with a prayer for the genocide victims, followed by a moving and tragic testimony of Anita, a genocide survivor. Furthermore, all guests participated in the lighting of the candles ceremony led by three young Rwandan girls. In addition to this, a short documentary about the genocide and a speech by the President of Ibuka aided to enhance the memorable evening. H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga delivered a touching speech referring to President Paul Kagame who stated, “As we remember we cannot turn back the clock, but we have the power to ensure that it will never happen again”. H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga drew to an end by highlighting the optimism Rwanda is experiencing today and the incredible progress this country has made in the last 22 years. Lastly, the guests enjoyed an incredible poem made by two Rwandan women, which brought this event to a close. Afterwards, guests shared a get-together reception at the Hilton Hotel. Video of the Poem:

Panorama Continuüm

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Panorama Continuüm
From 10 April to 2 October 2016 Panorama Mesdag will be exhibiting an installation by Zeger Reyers and Pietertje van Splunter. Together with the new video work Ringdijk by Gerco de Ruijter and earlier ones by Reyers, the exhibition adds a surprising new dimension to the panorama genre. The exhibition Panorama Continuüm (2016) is being devised especially for the 19th-century rooms of Panorama Mesdag museum. Perceptions of light, space and time are at the heart of the installation by Reyers and Van Splunter. The museum is combining this show and Ringdijk with De Ruijter’s panoramic landscape photographs. The Dutch artist Zeger Reyers (b. 1966) established his reputation with intriguing installations such as Drum Kit (2004), Aqua Boogie (2004), and Rotating Kitchen (2009). In 2007 the municipality of The Hague awarded him the Ouborg prize for his entire oeuvre. Reyers recently made a strong impression with his installation Free Floating Tree (2015) as part of the exhibition Expedition Land Art in Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort. He also mentors and advises young artists through the institute Mediamatic Art & New Technology. See www.zeger.org The Dutch landscape photographer Gerco de Ruijter (b. 1961) hangs his camera from a kite. As a result, the horizon is often absent, leading to enigmatic abstractions. Some of his photographs were currently on display in the show Farming Folk at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag in The Hague. The journalist Tracy Metz recently described his photographs as pure beauty (http://www.tracymetz.nl/category/artikelen/). A few weeks ago the book Almost Nature was published, a retrospective of Gerco de Ruijter’s work (Timmer Art Books, ISBN 978-94-6226-163-1); see www.gercoderuijter.com Since 2004 Zeger Reyers has frequently collaborated with the Dutch artist Pietertje van Splunter (b. 1968) under the name Broos Collective. Van Splunter’s work was on view at last year’s Biennale in Venice; see www.pietertje.net. Rob Bothof is responsible for the animations used in the installation. The exhibition Panorama Continuüm (2016) was commissioned by Panorama Mesdag and produced with the support of the Mondrian Fund. The exhibition will be opened on Saturday 9 April by the art critic Sandra Smallenburg. Panorama Mesdag offers visitors a programme of surprising exhibitions. The panorama genre dates back to 1785, when it was invented and patented by Robert Barker. It was a new method of depicting reality through an optical illusion, based on a number of criteria that Barker defined in his patent.

Ukrainian PM Yatseniuk resigns

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Ukrainian PM Yatseniuk resigns
On the picture Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk chairs a government meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, March 16, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko. By Baron Henri Estramant. Sunday, 10 April 2016, Kiev: Ukraine’s 40th Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk tendered his resignation on Sunday, paving the way for Western-backed coalition parties to nominate an ally of President Petro Poroshenko to try to form a more stable government. Yatseniuk survived a no-confidence motion in February, but political infighting and graft scandals have fractured the ruling coalition and further delayed the disbursement of aid under a $17.5 billion International Monetary Fund bailout programme.  His request to resign is to be submitted to parliament on Tuesday, 12 April; thus a new government may be formed. The party of the president, Petro Poroshenko, has already nominated the speaker of parliament, Volodymyr Groysman, to fill his post.  Yatseniuk’s resignation comes also amidst a political turmoil sparked by the “no” in the Dutch referendum for the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.   For information;  Prime Minister’s Office: http://www.kmu.gov.ua  Mission of Ukraine to the EU, Belgium and the European Atomic Community (HE Ambassador  Mykola Tochytskyi): http://ukraine-eu.mfa.gov.ua/en Embassy of Ukraine to The Netherlands, Mission to the OPCW (HE Ambassador Olexander Horin): http://netherlands.mfa.gov.ua/en President Poroshenko on the Dutch referendum to the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement: http://netherlands.mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/news/46320-komentar-prezidenta-ukrajini-z-privodu-poperednih-rezulytativ-referendumu-u-niderlandah-shhodo-ugodi-pro-asociaciju-mizh-ukrajinoju-ta-jes    

Presidential terms in Senegal shortened

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Presidential terms in Senegal shortened
The Senegalese have voted to shorten presidential mandates from seven to five years from 2019, according to the results of Sunday’s March 20th referendum. The move comes at a time when many African leaders are trying to cling on to power by extending their time in office. The electoral commission said 63% had approved the changes proposed by President Macky Sall, only the fourth president since independence from France in 1960. Turnout was 38%. The leaders of countries such as Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda and Congo sought to extend their rule last year. Such moves have triggered violent protests in Burundi and Congo. For more information: President Macky Sall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macky_Sall Mission of Senegal to the EU, Embassy to Belgium and Luxembourg (HE Ambassador Amadou Diop): http://www.ambassadesenegal.be Embassy of Senegal to The Netherlands and Denmark, Mission to the OPCW (HE Ambassador Maymouna Diop Sy): http://www.ambassenelahaye.com/index.php/fr/  

April 2016

Diplomat Magazine
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April 2016

Opportunities and threats for Israel/Palestine the late Obama era, Ilan Peleg & Paul Scham
Can diplomacy counter the weight of strategy, Lukas ilevski
Canada needs a global health strategy, Christopher Simms
The end of environmental diplomacy, Lawrence Susskind & Saleem Ali
Information statecraft: Multinational banks carriers for US and EU law, Michelle Frasher & W. Travis Selmier II

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Catwalk. Fashion at the Rijksmuseum

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Catwalk. Fashion at the Rijksmuseum
Picture by Erwin Olaf, Model – Ymre Stiekema, Bride dress  1759. Until 16 May 2016, six galleries of the Philips Wing will be dedicated to fashion of the Dutch from 1625 to 1960. Starting with garments worn by members of the Frisian branch of the house of Nassau in the Golden Age, the exhibits will feature vibrantly coloured French silk gowns and luxurious velvet gentlemen’s suits of the eighteenth century, classically-inspired Empire dresses and bustles of the Fin de Siècle culminating in twentieth-century French haute couture by Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. Rijksmuseum Fashion Collection The Rijksmuseum’s fashion collection totals some 10,000 items , with men’s, women’s and children’s attire and accessories spanning the period from 1700 until 1960. In addition, the History Department owns the earliest Dutch costumes, worn in the seventeenth century by the Frisian branch of the Nassau family and by the Stadtholder and British co-monarch King William III.
Catwalk. Picture by Carola van Wijk.
Catwalk. Picture by Carola van Wijk.
Being the oldest costumes collection in the country, having begun in 1870, acquisitions initially emphasized on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but over time gradually expanded to include the first half of the twentieth century. All of the garments comes from the wardrobes of upper-class Dutch men and women, but they were not necessarily made in the Netherlands. Foreign fashion houses and fabrics from all the leading textile-manufacturing countries around the world are amply represented. Acquisitions for the collection are based on historical significance, such as a post-war dress made of silk RAF pilots maps; design relevance, such as Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 ‘Mondrian dress’; and costume-historical importance, such as a silk taffeta cocktail gown by Cristóbal Balenciaga (1951-1952). Most items were donated or bequethed, supplemented with purchases. Highlights A few highlights of Catwalk: – A unique pair of underpants belonging to Hendrik Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz (1612-1640) – The widest dress in the Netherlands: Helena Slicher’s (1737-1776) wedding gown or mantua, which she supposedly wore at her marriage to Aelbrecht baron van Slingelandt (1732-1801) on 4 September 1759 – An exceptionally precious and fragile dress of blonde silk bobbin lace (1815-1820) – A silk taffeta cocktail dress by Cristóbal Balenciaga (1951-1952)  For additional information:  Rijksmuseum: www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/press/catwalk  ————– Text and pictures by Rijksmuseum, Press Office     
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