Toespraak minister-president bij het World Leadership Forum 2008

De toespraak is gehouden in het Engels:

Mr Chairman, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

Do any of you know the name Sara Rapalje?
Probably not. And yet she was an important person in the history of this great city.

As far as we can tell, Sara Rapalje was the first European baby born here.
Her parents came from Amsterdam in 1624 on a ship that belonged to the West India Company. Their voyage across the Atlantic took four months. They were newlyweds; he was nineteen years old, she was eighteen. Today we would call them 'deprived': they had no money, no education and nothing to lose. They came to Manhattan hoping against hope for a better life. One year after they arrived, their daughter Sara was born.

These people and a few others like them were the first to seek their future in New Netherland. They were the pioneers of this new colony. The first Europeans to farm the land, build houses and open shops. Sara's father started a grain-trading business and ran a tavern.

Next year it will be four hundred years since Henry Hudson was commissioned by the Dutch to explore the waters here. His fame is well deserved. He is an icon of our shared history. But Sara Rapalje's name is also worth remembering. Because her first infant cries were a sign that something had changed for good on these shores.

In 2009 we will celebrate the shared heritage and values which were left behind by Sara and her descendants. The festivities will be called 'New York: Made in Holland 1609'. Or 'New York 400' in short. There will be cultural, historical, political and business events in this city and in the Netherlands.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am very glad to be here with you today. My country, the Netherlands, is proud of the special ties that have joined our countries for so long. We were the first country to salute an American ship during your War of Independence. The first country with a US embassy.

Today we are still one of your main economic partners. In 2006 more US direct investment was made in the Netherlands than in any other country in the world. And Dutch investments in your country account for 440,000 American jobs.

So you see, not only are our countries connected, our lives are connected too.

Starting from shared values

Four years ago I spent some time in hospital with a serious foot infection. The US ambassador at the time, Clifford Sobel, gave me a book then that fascinated me: Russell Shorto's The Island at the Center of the World. It's about the birth of New York in the early seventeenth century, when it was still a Dutch colony.

What interested me most is the way Shorto gives a historical basis for the similar values that still exist today between our societies.

He describes New Netherland as a melting pot. A place where people were testing forms of local democracy. A dynamic and free society where it didn't matter where you came from; what counted was where you were going.

That spirit of freedom was typical of the Netherlands - or as it was called then, the Republic of the United Provinces. Our country pioneered one of the greatest innovations of the seventeenth century: tolerance.

We were the first to be inspired by a sense of unity in diversity. This helped transform the Netherlands into a world power. As Russell Shorto writes, 'Just as foreign goods moved in and out of their ports, foreign ideas, and foreign people did as well.'

Freedom of expression and religion. Respect for diversity. Democracy. These values have connected our countries for hundreds of years.

When I watch the Dutch news programme for children with my nine-year-old daughter and we see items about the US presidential elections, we both feel the excitement. What a festival of democracy! Of course a nine-year-old in Europe won't understand everything. 'Swing states,' she asks, 'has that got something to do with dancing'?

But the feeling that something important is going on, and the excitement generated by democracy in action - any European child can understand that.

Let's always remember that Europe and the United States are two of a kind. Because we share the same moral foundations an values, which give us the strength to meet the challenges of the future. The world has been a different place since the events of 9/11. The Netherlands stands unified with the United States in facing the evil threat of terrorism. And we will stand by you in defending the values we consider to be at the basis of civilised societies.

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, 'The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice.' I believe that this moment demands of us a clear choice for the future.

In this time of global uncertainty, when new major players are emerging on the global stage, we need to make maximum use of our combined influence. When the US and Europe stand together no one can ignore us. Together we can send a powerful message that will reach the whole world.

I am calling for a new era of transatlantic cooperation. A partnership that does not exclude others, but rather invites others to join us.

Global challenges demand global solutions. Global solutions demand global action. And together the US and Europe can move the world to action.

But to do that we have to listen to each other. And we need to go the extra mile to overcome our differences and share responsibility. This will make demands of both Europe and the US. Allow me to touch briefly on three issues at stake: security, climate and human rights.

Security

In the past few years I have paid several visits to Camp Holland, the base shared by Dutch and Australian troops in Afghanistan. The base is located in Uruzgan, one of the country's poorest and least developed provinces.

The Netherlands has supplied about sixteen hundred troops to the NATO force in Afghanistan: one of the largest national contingents, relative to population. We believe that international security requires more than fine words and good intentions. Action speaks louder than words.

The Netherlands has supplied about sixteen hundred troops to the force in Afghanistan: one of the largest national contingents, relative to population. We believe that international security requires more than fine words and good intentions. Action speaks louder than words.

Around Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan province, a sense of security is gradually taking hold. People have the confidence once more to set up small businesses. Medical posts have been opened. Children - both boys and girls - are going to school again. Farmers are experimenting with new crops, to replace opium poppies. Residents are building canals and small hydropower stations. One Dutch soldier said, 'People here have come to realise that they have to work for their own future.'

This is the atmosphere of hope and self-confidence that the Taliban are trying to destroy by spreading fear and chaos. And in recent months we have seen new, horrific acts of terror.
Afghanistan is a crucial test case for the international community. Failure is not an option. To win this battle we will have to use the 3 D's: defence, diplomacy and development.

This means that we have to stay the course. I have great respect for America's willingness to stand firm for the values we all believe in. Europe has to show that it too is prepared to make a serious contribution to global security. We can do that by providing more troops, more aid and more diplomacy. As a member of NATO and the European Union, the Netherlands advocates a greater European role. And tries to set a good example.

The Center for Global Development, an independent US think tank, publishes an annual 'Commitment to Development Index'. The index measures rich countries' contributions to development, good governance and security. I am proud that the Netherlands is at the top of their ranking.

NATO remains the world's most important forum for major security issues. Solidarity within the alliance is our greatest strength.

NATO remains the world's most important forum for major security issues. Solidarity within the alliance is our greatest strength.

A moving example of solidarity was set in April last year by Sergeant Alexander Van Aalten from Monterey, Tennessee. His regiment took part in an operation against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Dutch troops took part in the same operation. One of our men, Corporal Cor Strik, was killed in an explosion. Sergeant Van Aalten volunteered to recover the body - and died carrying out this heroic act. Sergeant Van Aalten, an American of Dutch descent, was twenty-one years old.

Ladies and gentlemen, the families of Sergeant Van Aalten and Corporal Strik are here with us this evening. You have to live with this terrible loss every day. I have the deepest respect for you and for your sons, who fought on our behalf for freedom, peace and security.

Climate change

The second issue that I would like to touch on is climate change. According to the latest predictions, sea levels are expected to rise by almost one metre in the next hundred years. You will understand that we are very concerned about this in the Netherlands. Seventy per cent of our Gross National Product is earned below sea level. I myself live close to the lowest spot in the country, seven metres below the level of the North Sea.

You may be familiar with the story of Hans Brinker and the hole in the dike. What was once a typical Dutch story of the struggle against rising water levels has now become a global story. Your country, too, faces an increasing risk of flooding. The people of New Orleans know what I mean. Since Katrina, Dutch engineers have been closely involved in reinforcing the water defences in the Mississippi delta. We stand by you when you need us.

Europe aims to take the lead in tackling the root of the climate problem. Our goal is to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by at least twenty per cent from 1990 levels in the next twelve years.

But Europe and the world need support from the country that accounts for more than a quarter of the world economy. I sincerely hope that the US will join the international community in tackling climate change. The UN Climate Change Conference next year in Copenhagen will be a good opportunity.

But Europe and the world need support from the country that accounts for more than a quarter of the world economy. I sincerely hope that the US will join the international community in tackling climate change. The Climate Change Conference next year in Copenhagen will be a good opportunity.

I know that many green ideas are being developed here in this city. Mayor Bloomberg has suggested putting windmills on top of all your skyscrapers. Perhaps I can make a more down-to-earth suggestion: build more bike paths. With its long, straight streets and avenues, this city is ideal for cycling!

Human rights

The last subject I would like to address is human rights. We all know Thomas Jefferson's immortal words: 'All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.' Human rights are the cornerstone of Dutch foreign policy. And human rights bind the Netherlands and the US as permanent transatlantic partners.

It is our common mission to promote human rights wherever we can. Human rights apply to all people, in all places, at all times.

Theodore Roosevelt taught us that 'no man is above the law and no man is below it'.

For exactly this reason, I have something to say to the next president of the United States - the same thing I am now saying to the current president: close Guantánamo Bay!

Indefinite detention without legal trial cannot be the answer. Nor impunity.

The Netherlands is a champion of the international legal order. We are proud that The Hague is considered the legal capital of the world. It is essential that we send a clear message to all those who commit crimes against humanity.

People like Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, who are responsible for so much human suffering in Bosnia. And people like Omar al-Bashir, who allowed Darfur to become a living hell for millions of people. Crimes on this scale cannot go unpunished. Defending human rights means putting an end to impunity.

So one of my most fervent hopes is that one day we will be able to welcome the United States as a full-fledged partner at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen,

When you cross the Atlantic, you can feel the affinity between our two countries. I often talk about this with my brother, who lives in Houston and travels all around the world for his work.

Within Europe, the Netherlands has always stressed the value of transatlantic ties. Europe and the US are natural partners. No power in the world can come between us. But other countries can work with us to shape a world in which freedom, development and sustainability go hand in hand.

Let us intensify our cooperation wherever we can. We should always remember that our differences are insignificant compared with the fundamental values and interests we share. What binds us is far greater than what divides us. This is my message to you and to our partners in Europe.

New York and the Netherlands are filled with the same spirit. It makes me think back to that baby girl, Sara Rapalje, who was born here in 1625. The first child of European descent born in this land, whose parents came from Amsterdam to settle here.

The number of these two young people's descendants is estimated at one million. They have included carpenters, teachers, businesspeople, homemakers, doctors and elected officials.

They have all played a part in building this great city. They have helped make this country what it is: a beacon of freedom and prosperity.

They have left their mark on this great nation - a nation whose friend I am proud to be.

Thank you.