On the picture Ambassador Per Holmström. Photos by Caroline Wrangsten.
On October 6, 2015 H.E. Mr. Per Holmström was officially welcomed to the Netherlands by Inter IKEA Systems in Delft and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce.
Sweden and The Netherlands has a long history of trade and cultural relations and the creation of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in The Netherlands in May 1960 furthered this relationship which has proved mutually beneficial. The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands is a non-profit network organization providing “a platform for the promotion of Swedish-Dutch business and the exchange of knowledge, skills, and ideas between Sweden and The Netherlands,” with more than 150 members, including Swedish, Dutch, and international companies. This relationship is highlighted in a recently published book The Swedes and the Dutch were Made for Each Other. Historiska Media, 2014.Mr. Per Holmström officially became Sweden’s ambassador in the Netherlands on September 9 this year when he presented his Letters of Credence to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. Up to that time he was Head of the Department for Consular Affairs and Civil Law at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm and had previously served at the Consulate General in Jerusalem and at the Swedish Embassy in Paris.Ehsan Turabaz Inter IKEA Systems and Kerstin Gerlagh Swedish Chamber of Commerce.He was also welcomed by the Sweden related organizations in the Netherlands. The Ambassador thanks everyone for the warm reception he has received since he arrived to the Netherlands. Mr. Holmström is impressed by the work of the wide variety of Sweden related organizations in the Netherlands, and assures them of the Embassy’s full support.Ambassador is awarded Honorary Chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce by Ehsan Turabaz and Hannie Kroes SKF.
Ukrainian artist Vasiliy Kohutych presents Ukraine within Embassy Art Exhibition, the first joint project of Diplomat Magazine, Galerie Parties van Dorst and the embassies accredited in the Netherlands.
H. E. Olexander Horin Ambassador of Ukraine.
A vernissage reception on occasion of opening Embassy Art Exhibition took place on October 14, 2015 at Galerie Parties van Dorst.
Alongside with works of the Ukrainian artist, paintings and sculptures of the artists from China, Serbia and Lebanon were represented during the first week of the Embassy Art Exhibition.
The paintings of Vasyl Kohutych are exhibited in the gallery until October 18th, 2015.
All works displayed at the Embassy Art Exhibition can be purchased at the gallery Parties van Dorst.
During the exhibition period the gallery is open Tuesday – Sunday 13:00 – 19:00.Address:
Galerie Patries van Dorst
Landgoed de Wittenburg 3
Wassenaar, 2244 BV
Netherlands
Source: NewsUa.nl
Angola Joins the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Angola has today become a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, bringing the total number of OPCW Member States to 192.
“Angola’s accession to the Convention brings this important treaty a further step towards complete universality,” said Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the OPCW. “I hope this will encourage those countries which remain outside the Convention to join the global consensus against chemical weapons.”
Angola deposited its instrument of accession on 16 September 2015 and the Convention entered into force for it on 16 October 2015.
Non-States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention include South Sudan, Egypt, Israel and North Korea.
Switzerland – IOM Director General William Lacy Swing spoke of “Migration in a World in Disarray” and called for improved global migration management at a time of unprecedented human mobility.
He was speaking on Monday at Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies at the Geneva Challenge 2015. The event – a contest for international graduate students – addresses advancing development goals and this year focused on return migration and socio-economic development.
“More people are on the move than ever before – more than one billion in our seven-billion person world. Of these, 250 million are international migrants, and 750 million are domestic migrants. International migrants have remained constant at about 3 percent of the world’s population for several decades, but numerically, migrants are more numerous than ever before,” he said.
“Demographers predict that this population boom is likely to continue beyond mid-century, at which time, the world’s population is expected to level out at nine billion. Migration as such will continue to be a ‘mega-trend’ of our century,” he added.
“Today, more people have been forced to migrate than at any other time since the Second World War, namely some 60 million, about one-third of these are actual refugees under the 1951 Geneva Convention, and the remaining two-thirds are internally displaced persons (IDPs). As a group, those forced to migrate constitute a population about the size of France’s population,” he noted.
Conflicts and accompanying desperation are driving people to migrate under dangerous circumstances – to the sea and to the desert. Some 550,000 irregular migrants already have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe leaving a “trail of tears” – as victims of criminal gangs of smugglers torture, extort and de-humanize their victims, said Ambassador Swing.
Such journeys have killed some 3,000 migrants already this year, after over 3,200 in 2014. These migration flows are a global phenomenon: in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden; in the Caribbean between Haiti and South Florida; on the Mexico-US border, and in Southeast Asia, where at least 2,000 migrants may still be at sea on smugglers’ boats.
This is also a period of unprecedented anti-migrant sentiment – even though there is unfilled labour demand created by an ageing Europe and the OECD area. Closing borders, instituting rigid visa regimes and criminalizing irregular migrants and other rash measures are driving more and more migrants into the hands of smugglers, said the IOM Director General.
There is also a vacuum of political leadership, lack of political courage, and an erosion of international moral authority on migrant issues, with international humanitarian law being violated by all sides. Public confidence in government’s ability or willingness to manage these migration flows is another element in this “perfect storm”; and a pervasive “globalization of indifference” as Pope Francis has described it.
“It is entirely within our capacity to weather this storm, however turbulent or long. IOM’s thesis is that migration is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be managed,” said Ambassador Swing.
Source: IOM
Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mrs Fatou Bensouda, following growing tensions reported in Guinea.
As part of its ongoing preliminary examination, my Office has been closely following developments in the situation in Guinea, including as they relate to the risk of possible violence leading to crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”).
The Presidential election in Guinea is following its course. However, reports of growing tensions have recently emerged.
I would like to reiterate my call for calm and restraint to all political actors, and their supporters. I wish to reiterate that anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes in any other way to the commission of atrocity crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC is liable to prosecution either in Guinea or at the Court in The Hague.
My Office is closely following developments of the situation in Guinea.
On 24 October 2015, the Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels will host a celebration of the 8th National Flag Day and the first celebration of the Diaspora Day in the Benelux countries. The members of the Ethiopian national diaspora and Benelux citizens of Ethiopian origin have been invited to take part in this colorful event.During the celebration, the National Flag of Ethiopia will be raised. In addition,the current socio-economic situation of the country as well as the participation of the Ethiopian diaspora in thenational economic development will be discussed. Traditional Ethiopian food and drinks will be served to the participants, who will have the opportunity to dance with traditional Ethiopian music. For more than a decade, Ethiopia has been one of the fastest-growing country in Africa. This exceptional economic development is set to continue during the next years, and the World Bank forecasts Ethiopia will be the fastest-growing country in the world in 2016. Several sectors like agro-processing and manufacturing have been gaining a considerable importance in the country’s economy, while several flagship projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, road construction and railway projects in the capital and throughout the country have attracted worldwide attention. Ethiopia is also identified as one of the major investment destinations in Sub-Saharan Africa due to high growth potential of business, cheap and trainable labor, cheap electricity, incentives provided to investors and a stable political and institutional framework. Big multinational companies and equity financing firms like Diageo, Unilever, GE, Heineken, Duet, Vasari and many others have invested in Ethiopia in the past years. Furthermore, the country is visited by more and more tourists due to its unique geographical, historical and cultural heritage. The UNESCO has recognized 9 of those heritages, more than any other country in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015 Ethiopia was awarded the World Best Tourist Destination by the European Council on Tourism and Trade. As stable country in a troubled region, Ethiopia has also been recognized as a solid international partner in the move to combat terrorism, and is generously contributing to several international peace-keeping force missions.For more informationEmbassy of Ethiopia to the Benelux countries and the EU / H. E. Ambassador Teshome Chanaka:www.ethiopianembassy.be/en/
On September 29th, students and staff at UNESCO-IHE in Delft celebrate Blue Day, to mark the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.UNESCO-IHE and the Sustainable Development Goals
On 27 September 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by world leaders at the Sustainable Development Summit in New York. UNESCO-IHE has undertaken action to support the inclusion and achievement of water-related SDGs, in particular Goal 6 on ensuring access to water and sanitation for all.
Much of the Institute’s work contributes to Goal 6 or related environmental goals, notably by educating water professionals, undertaking research and developing innovative solutions to sanitation, environment and food security challenges.
For more information visit www.unesco-ihe.org
Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will make a speech on Wednesday 4 November at the 3rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters at the World Forum in The Hague.The conference is a platform for sharing experiences and ideas with the ultimate objective of achieving an international approach to the prevention of violence against women and children.After the plenary session, Queen Máxima will attend part of the ‘Effective social and economic reintegration of women survivors’ workshop. The main theme on the morning of 4 November is economic independence, the basis on which women faced with domestic violence can build a new and independent life. Other issues to be discussed at the conference include sustainable financing, cooperation in international organisations, such as the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (WHO), expanding and strengthening the international network, putting violence against women on the agenda worldwide and creating legislation.Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will also attend the conference on Wednesday. Through The Mary Foundation, she works to help women and children who are victims of violence. The foundation is organising two conference workshops, and Crown Princess Mary will speak on Thursday 5 November.In total around a thousand people from over a hundred countries will take part in the conference in The Hague. Minister of Education, Culture and Science Jet Bussemaker will open the conference on Tuesday 3 November. Also State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport Martin van Rijn will attend part of the four-day conference, which is being held from 3 to 6 November.Previous editions of the conference were held in Alberta, Canada in 2008 and in Washington DC in 2012. The conference in The Hague is being organised by the Foundation of Women’s Shelters in the Netherlands and other partners at the request of the Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS).
On the picture His Excellency Samuel Otsile Outlule, Ambassador of Botswana.By Antonia Barthel.
Traditionally, the monthly Diplomats Meet and Greet is a useful platform to enhance our knowledge of the host country.
This month’s event took place on Wednesday 7th of October at the Carlton Ambassador Hotel and was hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Botswana based in Brussels, in collaboration with the Carlton Ambassador Hotel, Diplomatic Card, Jaguar and Diplomat Magazine.
For a photo album on Botswana Diplomats Meet & Greet, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157660139296125Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands with Ambassador Outlule.
The event was all about “promoting goodwill, friendship, international understanding and getting to know each other better, especially Botswana,” explained His Excellency Samuel Otsile Outlule, Ambassador of Botswana and Head of Delegation to the European Union.
Ambassador Outlule welcomed members of the Diplomatic Corps and distinguished guests to an evening of networking, promoting Botswana and extending the international circle of friendship.
Among the distinguished guests were a number of Judges of the ICC – including Judge Joyce Aluoch, First Vice-President, and Botswana’s own national, Judge Sanji Monageng, as well as Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands, and Drs. Marieke J. Sanders ten-Holte, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Botswana in Amsterdam.
Ambassador Outlule with Judge Joyce Aluoch and Judge Sanji Monageng.
The Carlton Ambassador’s salon was filled with heads of mission, diplomats, government officials as well as representatives from international organizations, industry and academia.
From the array of promotional materials presented elegantly in Botswana’s traditionally woven baskets, guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Botswana and its many facets which make it “a place to live, work, visit and do business”, as described by Ambassador Outlule.
Ambassador Outlule together with the SANEC representative, Mr. Adriaan Wiese.
The music of Botswana folk jazz artist, Sereetsi & The Natives, provided a soothing soundtrack to the evening as the fine cuisine of the Carlton Ambassador Hotel made its rounds across the room, and guests indulged in the sharing and enhancing of their knowledge and experiences of Botswana.
On the Picture Their Majesties King Philippus and Queen Mathilde together with Turkey’s presidential couple.By Baron Henri Estramant.
4-6 October 2015, Brussels: Turkey’s presidential couple paid a state visit to Belgium at the invitation of Their Majesties King Philippus and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians and simultaneously visited several European institutions.
The Belgian Royal Couple hosted President Recep Erdoğan and his wife Emine to a banquet. The president also held meetings with Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel and Foreign Minister Didiers Reynders, albeit the focus of discussions were not bilateral but rather Europe’s migration crisis and the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria.
Highlight of the bilateral visit was the opening by the Turkish presidential couple and the Belgian royals of the international arts festival Europalia which this year honours Turkey.
Queen Mathilde, President’s wife Emine, King Philippus and President Recep Erdoğan.
Outside the EU it may be, but Turkey has a key role on its eastern borders. Europe’s worst migration crisis since the break-up of former Yugoslavia now has EU governments looking to Erdoğan to help stem the flows of refugees as record numbers of people flee Syria’s civil war and the rise of radical militants in Iraq.
As refugees continue to arrive, EU officials have suggested sending financial aid to Ankara to keep migrants in Turkey while they process their asylum requests. EU leaders pledged at least 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) for Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and other countries at an emergency summit in Brussels last month.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan & EC President Donald Tusk – Picture by European Union.
The bilateral state visit to the Kingdom of Belgium was arranged by the Turkish head of mission to the latter country, Ambassador Mehmet Olcay and her staff, whereas the EU meetings were arranged by the Permanent Delegate to the EU, Ambassador Selim Yenel and his staff.
Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership following the Helsinki European Council of December 1999. Accession negotiations started in October 2005.
For more information:
Permanent Delegation of Turkey to the EU: www.avbir.mfa.gov.tr
Embassy of Turkey to Belgium and Luxembourg: www.turkey.be
Embassy of Turkey to the Netherlands: www.lahey.be.mfa.gov.tr
Europalia Turkey: http://europalia.eu/en/home/home_82.html
Turkish State Visit to Belgium on Blauw Bloed: www.eo.nl/blauwbloed/aflevering-detail/blauw-bloed-20151010t194130/
