Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima paid an official visit to the United States of America from Monday, 1 June to Wednesday, 3 June 2015. The King and Queen visited Washington, D.C. where they held a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House. Grand Rapids and Chicago-  They were be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bert Koenders. The Netherlands is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its liberation in 2015, so time was set aside during the visit to reflect on the major role played by the US in restoring the country’s independence. The visit will be an opportunity to thank the US for its contribution to 70 years of peace and freedom in The Netherlands and Europe. The visit also focused on the economic ties between the two countries. An economic mission on the themes ‘Feeding the City’ and ‘Healthy Ageing’ took place at the same time as the official visit. Representatives joined the mission from the top sectors agri-food, horticulture & propagation materials, life sciences & health, chemicals, and high-tech systems & materials. The mission visited Chicago under the leadership of Edith Schippers, the Netherlands’ Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport. In Grand Rapids Simon Smits, Director-General for Foreign Economic Relations, will take over the mission leadership. In the week preceding this visit to the US, the King and Queen paid a state visit to Canada, focusing there on Canada’s great contribution to the liberation of The Netherlands. Alongside the state visit, there was a Batavian economic mission and higher education mission to Canada. Monday, 1 June 2015 The visit to the US began Monday morning in the Washington area, at Arlington National Cemetery, where the King and Queen paid tribute to the American war dead. King Willem-Alexander laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Several US veterans who took part in the liberation of The Netherlands attended the ceremony. The Royal Couple then was received by President Obama in the Oval Office. On Monday afternoon the King and Queen attended an event on innovative and sustainable forms of urban renewal. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is organising this Global City Teams Challenge. About 30 smart city projects will showcase their technologies and the progress they have made in developing efficient, sustainable ways of keeping cities liveable. A joint initiative will be presented that afternoon by Amsterdam, The Hague and a number of US and Asian cities. The Royal Couple viewed all the Dutch and US smart city projects. Later that afternoon the King and Queen were present at a round table discussion on sustainable development and best practices on the smaller islands of the Caribbean, including the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The gathering was be held at the World Bank. The King and Queen will then visit Congress (on Capitol Hill), for talks with House and Senate leaders, a reception with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a meeting with the ‘Dutch Caucus’, a group of legislators with a political interest in or personal ties to The Netherlands. On Monday evening the King and Queen and Mr. Koenders dined at the Dutch Ambassador’s Residence, where prominent policymakers and think-tank staffers will join in discussions of current issues, particularly concerning security and the economy. Tuesday, 2 June 2015 On Tuesday morning the royal party will fly in the Dutch government aircraft to the Grand Rapids, Michigan, where many Dutch immigrants live. The party will be welcomed at Gerald Ford Airport by Michigan governor Rick Snyder, who was their host in the state. A children’s choir greeted the King and Queen. The governor hosted the party at a reception and lunch in Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, where the King gave a speech. After lunch the King and Queen walked in the garden, plant a tree to commemorate their visit, and unveil a plaque honouring volunteers. They will then take part in a brief gathering in the park’s amphitheatre with the Dutch communities of Holland, Zeeland and other Michigan towns. They then proceeded to the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids’ Medical Mile, where they will be given a tour of this facility specialised in paediatric oncology. They also visited the Van Andel Research Institute, where research is being done on neurodegenerative illnesses like Parkinson’s disease. These visits will include a focus on closer partnerships being developed with Dutch institutes and hospitals like the ParkinsonNet care network of the Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen. The Meijer, De Vos and Van Andel families are all of Dutch origin. Later Tuesday afternoon the King and Queen left for Chicago, where mayor Emanuel Rahm welcomed them at the Chicago Cultural Center. There was a reception followed by a business dinner, where people from about a hundred Dutch companies met US corporate representatives and the King gave a speech. Wednesday, 3 June 2015 On Wednesday morning the King and Queen visited the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, one of the foremost institutes in the US in the field of clinical research into motor impairments caused by brain damage and spinal cord lesions and the treatment of such patients. The institute’s patients include many veterans. The Royal Couple will speak with patients who have regained movement thanks to advanced technology and prostheses. They then attended a seminar where new Dutch-US partnerships was launched. At the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center, a meeting was held for the economic mission focusing on healthy ageing. Northwestern University joined with Dutch partners to show the King and Queen several pioneering innovations, and several Dutch researchers were offered adjunct positions at Northwestern. A tour for the King and Queen of the newly opened Gotham Greens rooftop greenhouses highlighted advances in urban farming: greenhouse cultivation of vegetables for local delivery. Urban farming is being done on a steadily increasing scale in US cities. The new Chicago greenhouse, the largest in North America, is located above a factory, thus saving both energy and land. Climate control in the greenhouse is done by the Dutch company HortiMaX, some of the seeds are supplied by Rijk Zwaan, and Koppert is providing biological pest control. The King and Queen then attended the concluding session of a seminar at Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy on horticulture and agribusiness, with feeding the city and healthier foods as themes. The Royal Couple also was given a tour of this secondary school, whose pupils will show them projects on healthy lifestyles. Finally, the King and Queen attended an urban picnic where civil society organisations based in the Pullman Historic District briefed them about Chicago’s strategies for revitalising depressed neighbourhoods. Source: http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/globale-paginas/taalrubrieken/english/news/  

  Norway’s National Day, or “Constitution Day” was celebrated in the Nordic kingdom on 17 May. The date marks the signing of the current Norwegian magna carta on 17 May 1814 at Eidsvoll, in an (failed) attempt to reassert its independence over annexations ambitions from Sweden. Amongst Norwegians the fête is referred to simply as “syttende mai” (Seventeenth May). Their Majesties King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway and the Crown Princely Family came out onto the balcony of the Royal Palace at Oslo just before 10:30 am as the Children’s Parade headed up Oslo’s main street, Karl Johan. Schools celebrating major anniversaries led the Oslo children’s parade. This year children from St. Sunniva (150 years) marched at the front, followed by Ris (100 years) and Oslo Montessori (25 years). Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their family started the day at Skaugum Manor, where they greeted the Asker municipality children’s parade from 8:15 am. About 60,000 children took part in the parade, and the Royal Guard Norwegian Military Marching Band brought up the rear.

  Tradition It was King Haakon VII (reigned 1905-1957) and Queen Maud who introduced the custom of greeting the children’s parade from the Palace’s balcony in 1906. The custom has been upheld ever since. The only exceptions were in 1910, when the Royal Family was in the UK for the funeral of Queen Maud’s father, King Edward VII, and during World War II from 1940 to 1944. Today the terms “17 May” and children’s parade are virtually synonymous. After the celebrations His Majesty The King of Norway embarked on a official visit to the US American states of Washington and Alaska from 21 to 27 May. Source: http://www.royalcourt.no/nyhet.html?tid=127479&sek=27262 For more information Norwegian Mission to the EU: www.eu-norway.org/mission/ Royal Norwegian Embassy to The Netherlands and Luxembourg: http://www.noorwegen.nl/Embassy/Consulates1/Luxembourg/#.VW2OOdLkdkg Royal Norwegian Embassy to Belgium: www.norvege.be  

  On the picture  H.E. Ambassador Sophie Thevenoux.   By Eugène Matos De Lara and Baron Henri Estramant. The following heads of mission presented credentials to the President of the European Council on 6 May 2015.  Principality of Monaco: H.E. Ambassador Sophie Thevenoux, Monaco to the EU, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. She was received by Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, on 6 May 2015 as she presented her credentials. She was accredited to The King of the Belgians on 16 April 2015. Her previous post was ambassador to France and Andorra.  Ambassador Thevenoux is expected to negotiate along with her predecessor and incumbent chief of Monégasque diplomacy, M Gilles Tonelli, the Association Agreement between Monaco and the European Union.  Monaco in the Benelux:  http://en.gouv.mc/Policy-Practice/Monaco-Worldwide/Diplomacy-and-International-Presence/bilateral-relations/All-the-countries/Belgium http://en.gouv.mc/Policy-Practice/Monaco-Worldwide/Diplomacy-and-International-Presence/bilateral-relations/All-the-countries/Netherlands http://en.gouv.mc/Policy-Practice/Monaco-Worldwide/Diplomacy-and-International-Presence/bilateral-relations/All-the-countries/Luxembourg   Republic of Korea: H.E. Ambassador Ahn Chong-ghee, Korea to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg.  Previous to this appointment as Head of Mission in Brussels, Mr. Ahn was Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (MOFA). Missions of Korea to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg: http://bel.mofa.go.kr/english/eu/bel/main/index.jsp  

Republic of Panama: H.E. Ambassador Dario Ernesto Chiru Ochoa, Panama to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg.  Ambassador Chirú Ochoa is based in Brussels since 2012. Before his appointment he was chargé d’affaires a.i. and Counsellor at the Panamanian missions.   

Republic of Liberia: H.E. Ambassador Isaac Wehyee Nyenabo, Liberia to the EU, the Benelux countries, and the OPCW. On behalf of President of the Republic of Liberia, Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Ambassador Nyenabo conveyed Liberia’s appreciation for the European Union’s significant financial, and resourceful contributions to the country over several decades, most exceptionally towards the recent  outbreak of the hemorrhagic Ebola virus that ravaged through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone claiming many lives. Missions of Liberia to the EU, Benelux and the OPCW:  www.embassyofliberia.be/      

The mystery of Misiones, frontier of Western civilization in the beginning of the 20^th century, region embraced by the Parana, Uruguay and Iguazu rivers, land inhabited by aboriginals and wild animals; the Argentine jungle, shared by Brazil and Paraguay bordering Uruguay, and its profound impact on the life and works of the Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga, were all brought to life for a rapt audience of more than 60 guests who came to listen to Professor Dr. Gabriel Inzaurralde  at the Koningkerk on the evening of the 2^nd of June. For a photo-album on this event, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157654152450055

With exceptional knowledge, intensity and passion, Dr. Gabriel Inzaurralde presented a powerful analysis of the life and work of Horacio Quiroga, his fatal attraction for Misiones and its primitive world, his continuous search for solitude, his endless work on machines, artefacts, canoes and futile inventions, his unsuccessful business projects, his continuous failings and obsessive loves, but above all an intense scrutiny of his confrontation with his own fears and the relationship of his tragic personal existence to his prolific narrative that was part of the life of millions of readers in Latin-America and the rest of the world. Quiroga (Salto, 1878 – Buenos Aires, 1937), a Uruguayan writer of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, was a man tormented and always surrounded by death but nonetheless defined by his immeasurable energy, curiosity and search for the unknown that rendered him not only the most famous narrator of Latin America but also a sportsman, cyclist, photographer, cinema critic and an inventor. Quiroga had a new way of telling stories and tales; short stories of adventure, love, horror and madness. The animals of Missiones assembling together against the man, the vampires, the flamingos with skin serpents’ nylons and the monster under the pillow all came together yesterday night to honour the oeuvre of Horacio Quiroga.   The lecture was organized by the Hispanic Association of The Hague together with the Embassy of Uruguay in The Netherlands, the coordination of this event was made possible with the help of the Ambassador’s wife, Ana Trabal, and the  Secretary of the association, Montse Barberá Boix. Ms. Edith Bergansius, president of the Hispanic Association of The Hague, welcomed the guests and introduced Dr. Gabriel Inzaurralde who guided the audience with ease and dexterity through Quiroga’s life and work. Besides the passionate audience staying until late to listen attentively to Professor Inzaurralde, the hosts H.E. Dr Alvaro Moerzinger Ambassador of Uruguay and his wife Ana Trabal were joined by H.E. Mr Héctor Horacio Salvador, Ambassador of Argentina and his wife Ms. Jane Berger de Salvador; H.E. Mr Carlos Andres Herrera Rodríguez Ambassador of Peru and his wife Veronique Miclea, H.E. Mr Fermín  Quiñones Sánchez, Ambassador of Cuba and wife Amaira Quiñones, H.E. Mr Juan Jose Quintana Aranguren, Ambassador of Colombia; and Veronica Crego Porley and Gustavo Morales Bertinat, respectively Minister Counsellor and Cultural Advisor of the Embassy of Uruguay. After the conference ended, many guests stayed to share memories of Quiroga’s books over empanadas and Uruguayan wines.