“Wij zijn er klaar voor”, was de boodschap van Burgemeester Ahmed Aboutaleb. In Rotterdam start op 4 juli de Tour de France, en voor deze Grand Départ wordt alles uit te kast gehaald om het tot een succes te maken. Voor het bezoek aan het stadhuis hadden de BPV-FPA leden de mogelijkheid om de verbouwde SS Rotterdam te bezichtigen.
The 2nd annual BPV-FPA-Spring Soirée took place in The Hague and, once more, Dutch public relations hot shots, embassy representatives, Dutch journalists and officials from various (international) organisations took the opportunity to have a chat with bpv-members, as usual: not without a glass or a bite.
She is building the biggest theatre-complex in Asia, the biggest library in Europe and never realized such a lot of projects at the same time: Crises - what crises? Francine Houben from Delft based Mecanoo Architects is one of the most succesful female architects of the world. In Spain she realized a theatre and a Palace of Justice, and the city of Delft is getting a new Central Station combined with a new spectacular Stadhuis from Mecanoo. BPV was invited to Delft for a very inspiring visit where Francine Houben herself took the time to talk about her succes and her vision and her most important projects.
A sea of flowers awaited the members of the bpv during their visit to the biggest flower auction of the world in Aalsmeer. Most popular are roses and tulips, Hollands national symbol. There are more than 900 different sorts of tulips. How experts manage to surprise the world every year with new ones, we later learnt during our visit at a tulip-science-centre.
De klimaattop in Kopenhagen (was een teleurstelling voor hem), Obama’s bankenplan, het WK voetbal in Zuid-Afrika, Wilders en de toekomst van de Coffeeshops: over deze en tig andere onderwerpen heeft Premier Jan Peter Balkenende de leden van de Buitenlandse Persvereniging tijdens de traditionele “lunch met de minister-president” bijgepraat.
De financiële crisis is nog niet voorbij. Dat was goed te zien aan de opkomst van de BPV-FPA-leden voor deze werklunch met Minister van Financiën, Wouter Bos, in Nieuwspoort in Den Haag. Toch gingen niet alle vragen over Fortis/ABN/Icesave, sommigen spraken de Minister ook aan als Chef van de PvdA (hoe zit dat met de “derde weg”?) of als Vicepremier (blijven of terugtrekken uit Afghanistan?).
Right before the start of the Climate top in Copenhagen in December 2009, bpv-members were invited to talk to leading Dutch climate experts in Rotterdam: At the new RDM-Campus, engineers and architects told them how to cope with the rising sealevel and how new ways of flood control, coastal protection and the construction of floating houses could help the Dutch to survive.
Vijf jaar na de moord op Theo van Gogh trokken de leden van de BPV/FPA naar Slotervaart, waar de moordenaar van de filmmaker opgroeide, om van stadsdeelvoorzitter Ahmed Marcouch en anderen te horen wat er sindsdien is gebeurd. Er zijn in dit stadeel tal van projecten gestart om het radicaliseren van moslimjongeren tegen te gaan. Tegelijkertijd is er heel veel gedaan om de sociale cohesie in heel Amsterdam te verbeteren.
"We are ready," Chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia told members of the BPV/FPA on October 20th. Just days before the long-awaited trial of Radovan Karadzic got underway at the UN court, Brammertz said his team of prosecutors has worked hard on the indictment of the most prominent suspect currently in ICTY custody. He explained that his team has streamlined the 11-count indictment without dropping any charges. To speed up the trial while maintinaing the overview of all major atrocities in the Bosnian war, proseutors will present evidence from 27 villages instead of the original 41. Like all of the assembled reporters, Brammertz said he was curious as to whether Karadzic would show up for the opening day of the trial.
A large group of BPV/FPA members visited the International Court of Justice in The Hague. We were told about the establishment of the U.N.'s highest judicial organ and which member state donated what to the Peace Palace. We were then briefed on how the court's judges and registry work before holding informal talks with judges during a borrel at the end of our visit.
On a visit to Eurpol headquarters in The Hague, we met with the EU police organization's new director, Rob Wainwright, who explained the force's work and recent achievements. Members were then given a presentation on money counterfeiting and the way criminals use skimming equipment to harvest people's bank account details at ATM cash machines.
On our trip to the southern province of Limburg focussing on new technology aimed at making agriculture and energy production more sustainable we visited a tomato-greenhouse in Venlo that uses less energy due to its efficient handling of CO2. Then, even further south, in the city of Heerlen, we took a ride in an electric car that is manufactured entirely out of recycled plastics. In the same town we paid a visit to the Mine Water Project where the water from an unused mine heats homes, shops, offices and even a supermarkt during the winter and cools the same buildings during summertime. Once relative strangers, wine and the Netherlands are deepening their relationship each year as more farmers begin planting and harvesting grapes. That was the news from the country's best-known vineyard, Apostelhoeve close to Maastricht, where we got to taste the different wines on offer. At the end of the day we enjoyed a "sustainable diner“ at Chateau Neercanne, only a couple of kilometers from the Apostelhoeve Farm.
South African Justice Richard Goldstone recounted his time as the first Hague Philosopher and how he managed to juggle his meditations on international law with his appointment to lead a UN commission of inquiry into the Gaza conflict. He discussed his time as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and flattered his hosts by saying that journalists were among his favorite people - nearly all of them intelligent and inquisitive and generally good company.
On May 27, at the International Press Centre Nieuwspoort in The Hague, the Foreign Press Association in the Netherlands (bpv/fpa) together with the Centre for Politics and Communication (CPC) at the University of Amsterdam presented the results of a study into the dynamics and effects of the European election campaigns. The exhaustive survey was based on public surveys in 21 EU countries in the runup to the EU Parliament elections.
De stemming bij de Nederlanders is sinds het roemruchte Nee tegen de Europese grondwet vier jaar geleden behoorlijk omgeslagen. ‘Bemoedigend’ zei de voor de EU verantwoordelijke staatssecretaris Frans Timmermans daarover tegen de BPV-leden op 26 mei 2009. Maar ook wees hij op de tegenstrijdigheid dat Nederlanders weliswaar meer samenwerking met de EU willen maar tegelijkertijd veel kritiek hebben op het bestuur en de ingewikkelde structuur van de Unie, en op de Brusselse ambtenarij. Toch is Timmermans er van overtuigd dat het vertrouwen het wint van de twijfel.
On April 27 a group of BPV/FPA journalists visited the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. This exciting event was hosted by Michael Luhan, Head of the OPCW Media and Public Affairs department.
During the visit the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, gave a briefing on recent developments within the organization and on the realization of the objectives of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Horst Reeps, Director of the Verification Division, gave us an interesting and detailed overview of the way OPCW inspectors monitor the costly and dangerous process of destroying chemical weapon stockpiles and observance of the Convention by the States Parties.
Ambassador Pfirter, as well as Horst Reeps answered a lot of questions put by the BPV/FPA journalists.
After that, several OPCW inspectors showed us several defused munitions and demonstrated the equipment they use during inspections on chemical weapons destruction facilities and industrial facilities. We got a detailed explanation about the working of this equipment, an opportunity to ask questions and even to try on a gas-mask.
Burgemeester Ahmed Aboutaleb van Rotterdam is de eerste „moslim-burgervader“ van een grote Europese stad – en dit inmiddels al honderd dagen lang. Reden genoeg voor de buitenlandse pers vereniging om de „Obama van de Maas“ aan de tand te voelen over zijn ervaringen in de tweede stad van Nederland. Hij sprak onder meer over de functie van de omstreden Korangeleerde Tarik Ramadan, de aanleg van de tweede Maasvlakte en de toekomst van de havenarbeiders. En over fietsen, want in Juli 2010 start de Tour de France in Rotterdam.
De leden van de BPV/FPA waren uitgenodigd voor een „culturele update“ van de stad Den Haag. Na een korte introductie op het stadhuis vervolgden we onze tour met een bezoek aan Binck 36, waar we kantoren en ateliers bekeken. Daar ontmoetten we onder andere de „tassenmaker van Neelie Kroes“, Omar Muni. In hetzelfde pand zitten trouwens ook de creatievelingen die smeden aan de plannen voor Den Haag Europese Culturele Hoofdstad 2018.
Later in de middag bezochten we de Caballero fabriek, waar eveneens veel kunstenaars en cultuurminnars hun atelier/kantoor hebben. En tot slot werden we door burgemeester Jozias van Aartsen verwelkomd met een borrel op het zonnige terras van de fabriek.
On March 10, BPV/FPA-members got their last chance to speak to departing ICC President, Judge Phillipe Kirsch. After completing seven years as the International Criminal Court’s first president, Kirsch left office. But not before making a BPV/FPA interview his last official function before hanging up his robes. The Canadian spoke of his pioneering years setting up the court in The Hague and of establishing an institution whose goal is to realize a long-held dream of mankind: to end impunity for generals and heads of state all over the world.
Members of the international and the Dutch press, supporters and key Dutch public relations experts gathered in their extravagant outfits in the heart of the Amsterdam red-light-disctrict to have a glass of prosecco and a fine bite at the occasion of the very 1st annual BPV/FPA-Spring Soirée.
During a press lunch Minister of Economic Affairs, Maria van der Hoeven, shared her opinion on the economic crisis and gave her vision of the energy supply to Europe, in particular, in connection with the gas row between Russia and Ukraine.
The ICTY, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslawia, needs more time to finish its work properly. Proceedings could easily go into 2012, Chiefprosecutor Serge Brammertz told members of the BPV/FPA. He hopes that the Security Council will allow the ICTY to do so. “Otherwise they would create a "legal catastrophe", Brammertz said.
Paul Schnabel explained us how unique the SCP is in the world - as an independent advisor of the government and as an examinor of the state of the Dutch nation. So for instance the Dutch themselves think they are very pessimistic about their politicians, but compared internationally, their trust in their government is relatively high. And as far as the integration policy is concerned: 10 years ago the image of the immigrants was good and their situation was bad, nowadays, their situation improved a lot, but their image is lousy.
"Het is beter belachelijk gemaakt te worden dan genegeerd", zei Marianne Thieme, fractievoorzitter van de Partei voor de Dieren (PvdD) tijdens de BPV/FPA-lunch in Nieuwspoort. De PvdD-voorvrouw vertelde niet alleen over haar (Haagse) strijd tegen het dierenleed, maar ook over hoe in het buitenland op het Nederlandse unicum wordt gereageerd.
The 1. Annual Midsummer's Eve Party of the Foreign Press Association (BPV/FPA) took place on the dazzling white sands of the Carlton Beach Club in Scheveningen. It was the same Euro2008-night that Oranje was playing against Russia. The result we all know; the party was great fun anyway!
"I have the best mission in the world", ICC Chiefprosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo said to BPV/FPA-members on a working lunch at Nieuwspoort. In July the International Criminal Court was celebrating the first ten years of the Rome Statute.
OMA welcomes BPV/FPA: Rem Koolhaas and his partners of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture told the BPV-members during an exclusive afternoon in the Rotterdam OMA-office all about their projects in China, Dubai, Hamburg and The Hague. We made a guided tour through the office where about 250 mostly young people from 37 countries work together.
Weather gods had mercy with the BPV/FPA-members on their two-days-trip in and around Nationaal Park de Hoge Veluwe. On the "green" day we saw Paleis Het Loo with its beautiful gardens (“better than Buckingham Palace”, according to an expert!), we took a white bicycle as everybody does in that park, toured along the “zandverstuivingen” and saw the Hubertus Castle where the liberation negotiations between Indonesia (former Nederlands Indië) and The Netherlands were held. And, of course, we payed a visit to the famous Kröller-Müller-Museum with the second largest number of Van Gogh’s in the world. Later, in the museum CODA in Apeldoorn, we were the honoured first guests of the exhibition "De Ontdekking van Nederland, vier eeuwen landschap door Hollandse meesters".
On the "blue" day we saw the ancient town of Harderwijk, heard dolphins laughing in the Dolfinarium and enjoyed a sailing trip on a traditional "botter". Before we said goodbye to the Veluwe we shared the secrets of smoking eels and human wellness.
Did you know that we come across 400 patents in our daily life? This and a lot of other information around patents a group of BPV/FPA-members got to know during a visit of the European Patent Office in The Hague.
Een grote groep BPV/FPA-leden verkende het Rijk van Nijmegen. We maakten een stadswandeling door Nijmegen, hoorden over de Romeinse opgravingen in Museum Het Valkhof en bezochten het casino, waarna we lekker in de warme baden van Scandic Sanadome mochten poedelen. Op de tweede dag zagen we hoe het voormalig Bijbels Openluchtmuseum Heilig Landstichting werd omgedoopt in Museumpark Orientalis, met nu ook aandacht voor andere religies. Verder luisterden we naar de verhalen in het Bevrijdingsmuseum in Groesbeek, ontmoetten Burgemeester Thom de Graaf (D66) op Jachtslot De Mookerheide en proefden tot besluit tezamen met de burgemeester van Groesbeek, Gerd Prick (PvdA), rode en witte wijn op Wijnhoeve de Colontjes.
Some of the BPV/FPA-members visited the Unesco-IHE in Delft, a unique institute since nowhere in the world is such a concentration of water-experts! So we learnt e.th. about "living on the edge", that is to say: coast erosion, about drinking water in the "city of future", about water & biofuels and what the International Year of Sanitation 2008 is all about. We also visited a lab where we could admire a water-filter-installation to eliminate arsenic from drinking water. So, afterwards, we had become a little bit experts ourselves...
Numerous BPV/FPA-members visited Corpus in Oegstgeest and travelled a good part of the journey through the human body. We have seen (and heard!) what happens if one eats a broodje kaas and we experienced the softness of the tongue. As a matter of fact, we are all standing on it, in the picture you see on the left.
Het gaat goed met de integratie in Nederland!, zo vertelde de directeur van het Instituut voor Multiculturele Ontwikkeling Forum, Sadik Harchaoui, aan een groep BPV/FPA-leden tijdens een informeel diner. Maar uiteraard zijn er hier en daar nog wat problemen.
Finance Minister Wouter Bos attended a working lunch with the BPV/FPA in Nieuwspoort on Feb. 11th 2008. We discussed a lot of topics, ranging from tax policy and the proposed increase in the BTW, to the recent populist revolution and Labor's cooperation with the conservative Christen Unie in the governing coalition.
A large group of BPV/FPA-members met at the Social Affairs Ministry in The Hague on Feb. 6 2008 to interview Piet Hein Donner. He told us everything about working, immigration, and the 'ontslagrecht'. Het explained why it is so incredibly expensive to get unemployed people back to work. And finally we learned why it is so hard to get plumbers, electricians and other professional “handy” men and women in The Netherlands.
We visited Roombeek, the part of Enschede which had been destroyed during the firework disaster in May 2000 and has now been rebuilt by famous international architects. After the disaster the government had promised that e.b. would get the chance to return and that nobody would end up worse than before. Therefore the new district was rebuilt in close cooperation with the people. 40 % of the former inhabitants have returned. We could talk to some of them and had a guided tour through the new quarter which just won a national architectural prize..
Tijdens een werklunch lichtte Staatssecretaris van Justitie, Nebahat Albayrak, ons in over de nieuwe pardonregeling voor uitgeprocedeerde asielzoekers. Maar ook haar dubbele nationaliteit kwam ter sprake.
Voorzien van bouwhelmen, kaplaarzen en hesjes gingen de leden van de BPV/FPA naar de ondergrondse bouwplek bij het Centraal Station in Amsterdam om te horen hoe de nieuwe Noord/Zuidlijn wordt aangelegd.
Aan boord van de „Noord-Holland“, de sjiekste boot van het ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat, en op de wal van de jarige Afsluitdijk, hebben de leden van de BPV/FPA alles gehoord over hoe deze ingenieuze schepping van Cornelis Lely werd gebouwd en wat voor maatregelen nodig zijn om dit staaltje waterbouwkunde voor de toekomst te behouden.
A big group of BPV/FPA-members made a nice bicycle trip along all the beautiful buildings in Rotterdam. The city of the harbour is celebrating the "Rotterdam Year of Architecture 2007".
On january 24th 2007, members of the BPV/FPA visited the Schermer Molen noorth of Alkmaar. This year the Netherlands celebrate "het jaar van de molen", so we've heard everything about wind- and watermills.
