By Mete Erdurcan.   Her Excellency, Ms. Orsolya Szijjártó , Ambassador of Hungary to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, held a reception on the 17^th of March to commemorate the 167^th anniversary of the 1848 revolution, which eventually led to an independence war against the Habsburg Monarch. The reception took place at the Hungarian Embassy located in Scheveningen. There were guests from the Hungarian community, diplomats and Dutch friends.   Her Excellency Ms. Orsolya Szijjártó was delighted to read a message from the Prime-Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, which was specially addressed to the Hungarian diaspora. In her speech the Ambassador also mentioned the famous words of the 12 points of the Hungarian March revolution, in Hungarian referred to as the ‘Nemzeti Dal’ poem by Sándor Petőfi. The poem underlines the importance of freedom, peace and unity.   The Ambassador was honoured to present Ms. Christina von Coerper-Buzay and Mr. Flórián Farkas the Gold Cross of Merit of Hungary medal, awarded by Mr. János Áder, President of the Republic of Hungary. Ms. Christina von Coerper-Buzay received the medal for her charitable work in the Carpathian Basin, and Mr. Flórián Farkas for his decade-long endeavours for the enhancement of the Hungarian culture and social research in the Netherlands.              

  The theme of the 28th Japanese Public Speaking Contest, organized by the Embassy of Japan, was ‘What I like about Japan and don’t like so much about Japan’. Some twenty participants with or without a background in Japanese studies had 5 minutes to speak about Japanese cultural elements that they are attracted to and about aspects of Japan that they fancy less. An expert panel headed by the Ambassador of Japan judged who presented the most original and well-structured speech in fluent Japanese. The winners received wonderful prizes handed to them by representatives of the sponsoring companies, including a trip to Japan with home-stay, digital cameras, dinner tickets, cultural goods, etc. The speech contest was held on Saturday March 7th, 2015 at the Bel Air Hotel in The Hague. The event was open to the public. Over one hundred people enjoyed the speeches and the wonderful atmosphere.  

Mr. Stephan van der Meulen, General Manager of Worldhotel Bel Air.   New Zealand Ambassador Janet Lowe was delighted to be present at the Volvo Ocean Race party in Worldhotel Bel Air The Hague. On 8^th March the Worldhotel Bel Air – official hotel partner of the Volvo Ocean Race Festival The Hague – hosted a party with the New Zealand Ambassador to the Netherlands Janet Lowe to celebrate the departure of the Volvo Ocean Race boats from Auckland. The plan was to watch the boats live on TV as they sailed out of Auckland harbour to their next destination Itajai in Brazil.  However due to bad weather caused by Cyclone Pam (which wrecked havoc in Vanuatu) the race organisers sensibly decided to postpone the departure date.  As Ambassador Lowe said, “This is the Volvo Ocean Race not the Ocean Survival Race!”.  

  Regarding the Auckland stopover, the Ambassador noted: “New Zealand is a sailing nation.  Be it as a hobby, lifestyle or career, New Zealanders have a strong affinity with the sea. You can hardly drive an hour in our country without hitting the coast, and Kiwis can be found sailing all over the world.  Abel Tasman (who ‘discovered’ New Zealand) and James Cook were the first to reach our island country from Europe on sailing ships.  And Auckland, which is known as the “City of Sails”, has more boats per capita than any city in the world.  New Zealanders are therefore delighted to be hosting the Volvo Ocean Race once again”.  

  Dutch Volvo Ocean Race media manager Diana Bogaards gave a fascinating presentation on the history and background of the Volvo Ocean Race and the special features of the current race that departed from Alicante, Spain, in October 2014.  “There is no prize money. It’s all about the sport  and the honour and glory of winning”, she said.  One of the guests was Hermann Megenthaler, who sailed for Mexico in the 1984 Olympic Games.   Meanwhile the departure from Auckland has taken place on Tuesday 17 March with all the boats leaving safely for Itajai, Brazil. For a full photo-album of the event, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157649097288433/                              

  By Roy Lie A Tjam.   What was to be a joyous celebration of Tunisian national pride in The Hague turned into a bittersweet commemoration as a terrorist attack hit the prestigious Bardo Museum in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, on Wednesday March 18. Over twenty individuals, many of them tourists, lost their lives amidst the carnage. Never before has Tunisia experienced such a brutal attack on its own soil. For full photo-album of the event, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157651055630490/   The following day, an extensive number of Ambassadors, judges and senior civil servants attended the National Day event and gave their solidarity and support to H.E. Karim Ben Becher, Ambassador for Tunisia. The Tunisian Ambassador is a distinguished member of the Diplomatic Corps in the Netherlands; a man known for his fidelity and friendliness. In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Karim Ben Becher, thanked all those who have sent messages of encouragement and solidarity. Furthermore, he explained his country’s determination to continue on the road it has embarked upon since the Jasmine Revolution several years ago-the road of full democracy.     Tunisia will not be deterred by a terrorist attack and remains adamant that the security of its people and of visitors will be guaranteed. The Tunisian-born former Mayor of Paris, Mr. Bertrand Delanoe, declared that the attacks in Paris, Copenhagen and Tunis are attacks against human dignity. The Bardo museum is expected to reopen next Tuesday.    

  By Roy Lie A Tjam. Pilgrimage to Mecca was the theme chosen for the afternoon soiree organised by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia with Aramco Overses Company, H.E. Ambassador Mr. Abdul-Aziz Abohaimed, and Aramco Overseas Company’s Managing Director, Mr. Fahad Abdulkareem , started at the Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde (the Dutch National Museum for World Cultures) with the inauguration of a permanent “Pilgrimage to Mecca” gallery in the museum on Tuesday March 17.   For a photo-album of the event, please click open here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157651461022311/   Subsequently, at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Mr. Stroomer, a linguist, gave a lecture regarding inscriptions on “Palm sticks”. The evening proceeded with the very lively Leiden-Aramco Lecture on Ancient Arabian Civilization: “Ancient Arabia: Forgotten Civilizations at the Heart of the Ancient Near East” by Michael Macdonald of Oxford University. On a same note, the launch of the LeiCenSAA, Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabica, under the eminent directorship of Dr. Achmed Al-Jallad took place. The evening concluded with a reception.

Ambassador Rustamjon Soliev.   March 17, 2015 in Brussels a reception was hosted at the European Parliament on the occasion of the International Day of Navruz at the initiative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Tajikistan to the European Union and with the support of the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.  

Among the organizers of the event also were the diplomatic missions in Brussels of Afghanistan, Ambassador Homayoun Tandar, Azerbaijan, Ambassador Fuad Isgandarov, India, Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri, Kyrgyzstan, Ambassador Asein Isaev, Pakistan, Ambassador Naghmana Hashmi and Turkey, Ambassador Mehmet Olcay, as well as the Permanent Representation of UNESCO to the EU. The event was attended by members of the European Parliament, heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Brussels, permanent representatives to the EU and NATO, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium, the European Union, NATO, the Energy Charter, the Council of Europe, representatives of business, scientific, cultural circles and the media in Europe, as well as members of the Tajik diaspora in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Congratulatory speeches were delivered on behalf of organizers by Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tajikistan to the European Union, Ambassador Rustamjon Soliev, as well as Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Central Asian countries Iveta Grigule and Permanent Representative of UNESCO to the European Union, Ambassador Marie-Paule Roudil.  

Numerous national dishes and sweets of the host countries, as well as an exhibition of traditional national handicraft items were offered to the guests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli’s polls opinion was far from the real results, giving Netanyahu an amazing victory against his closes opponent Yitzhak Herzog. Benjamin Netanyahu scored a higher victory than the exit polls had suggested. Mr. Netanyahu demonstrated once again that he is a great politician. After elections, Mr. Herzog has now established himself as the undisputed leader of his party, now waiting for further discussions and strong opposition. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Wednesday to form a new governing coalition quickly after an upset election victory that was built on a shift to the right and drew an immediate rebuke from the White House. In the final days of campaigning, Netanyahu abandoned a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state – the basis of more than two decades of Middle East peacemaking – and promised to go on building settlements on occupied land. Such policies defy the core vision of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict embraced by President Obama and his Republican and Democratic predecessors. With nearly all votes counted, Netanyahu’s Likud had won 30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, defeating the center-left Zionist Union opposition on 24 seats. A united list of Israeli Arab parties came third. The result was a dramatic and unexpected victory for Netanyahu – the last opinion polls four days before the vote had shown Likud trailing the Zionist Union by four seats.