Utrecht Conference on 15 May 2009
Speech by Maxime Verhagen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Utrecht Conference on 15 May 2009 in Utrecht
Mr Sikorski, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to be joining you today to highlight the excellent relations between the Netherlands and Poland. This year we are marking the tenth anniversary of the first Utrecht bilateral conference – a unique milestone. And I would therefore like to give a warm welcome to the people who were there at the very beginning: Ambassador Barbara Tuge-Erecińska, Ambassador Maria Wodzynska-Walinska and former foreign minister Jozias van Aartsen. I am glad that in those days, Jozias was already a master at organising conferences – that certainly paid off at the recent Afghanistan conference in The Hague! But I doubt whether he, or anyone else, could have foreseen that in 1999 in Utrecht, the foundation was being laid for a tradition that has already lasted for a decade. Of course, ten years is not very long in the grand scheme of things: indeed a book was published in 1992 on the subject of a thousand years of relations between Poland and the Netherlands …
Anyway, in the past decade, a large Polish-Dutch network has come into being, consisting of government ministers and civil servants who know each other from the Utrecht conferences. That includes you. I am sure you will agree that this network is tremendously valuable in a European Union of 27 member states. Indeed, the Utrecht Conference has become a strong instrument of bilateral cooperation. Poland and the Netherlands are working as equal partners towards a European future in which we can learn from one another’s knowledge and experience. So ultimately, bilateral cooperation also helps to make Europe stronger.
This year, we are also celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago: a wall which cut Europe in two for half a century. In 1989, that historic injustice came to an end. The struggle of Solidarność and the Round Table Talks played a crucial role in this process. The accession of new member states to the European Union, five years ago, put the finishing touch to our ‘new old alliance’. We belong together and we are together again. To quote Norman Davies: Poland is back in the ‘heart of Europe.’ But because of the Wall we do still think from a different historical perspective. We have a different frame of reference, for example with regard to Russia. We can be open about that. It doesn’t mean denying our common history and shared values. On the contrary.
Bronislaw Geremek, the co-founder of the Utrecht Conference, also saw the accession of Central and East European countries as a historic challenge. He said it was not just a question of one more round of EU enlargement, but also of the reunification of Europe. Geremek’s efforts contributed to the reunification of Europe. He also played an invaluable role in Polish-Dutch relations. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the tenth anniversary of ‘his’ conference.
I am pleased to announce that Utrecht University, together with a Polish partner organisation, will found a Geremek Lecture, which will be delivered alternately in the Netherlands and Poland. The Geremek Lecture is a tribute to this great Polish thinker and statesman, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by Utrecht University in 1986.]
I first met Professor Geremek in person in September 1989, at the ceremony marking fifty years since the beginning of the Second World War. At the time, he was leader of Solidarność in the Sejm, on the eve of the first government that included non-Communists.
Ladies and gentlemen,
There are more commemorative events to come. This year, our two countries are also celebrating 90 years of diplomatic relations, and next year a book will be published on that subject as a result of collaborative work between Polish and Dutch historians and my own ministry.
The book is bound to discuss the part played by Poland during the liberation of the southern Netherlands. Breda will always maintain ties with its Polish liberators: General Maczek and his entire division were made honorary citizens of Breda as a token of gratitude. In addition, the First Polish Independent Parachute Brigade participated loyally and heroically in Operation Market Garden (or the Battle of Arnhem) in September 1944.
It is a lesser-known fact that in 1921, Herman van Karnebeek, who was then the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, had offered the League of Nations a hundred troops in order to help settle Polish-Lithuanian territorial disputes. In the end, they were never dispatched, because Lithuania did not agree.
Today, Poland and the Netherlands are actively involved in international peace missions, not only in Afghanistan, but also with the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia, where the Poles and the Dutch are working together extremely well. In Afghanistan, 2000 Polish and 1750 Dutch troops are working for peace and security. Mr Sikorski, I hope that in the negotiations on NATO’s new Strategic Concept, our nations will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder once more to equip NATO for the challenges of the 21st century.
The cross-border challenges of our times are making European cooperation even more urgent. For instance dealing with climate change and energy supply security – a subject that is just as much a priority for you as it is for us. I hope that the current financial and economic crisis will help to boost renewed international cooperation – and also new technologies. On that subject, the Netherlands is very interested in the Polish approach to carbon capture and storage. Poland has many years of experience developing and applying CCS and has the greatest potential onshore storage capacity in the whole of Europe.
We must demonstrate to our peoples that we are better off together than alone. Unfortunately, we politicians (including those in the Netherlands) do not seem to be very good at showing the public what we have achieved through European integration. The notion that an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe was inevitable was derailed by the French, Dutch and Irish referendums. In other countries too, including Poland, some are hesitant about the European project. We must continue our efforts to strengthen public support for the EU. In that respect, the European Parliament elections in two weeks’ time will be a significant indicator. It is our responsibility to show that by working together, we can only gain.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Within the European arena it is vital to understand each other’s viewpoints and backgrounds. Bilateral conferences help us to do this. It is a way of finding out the reasons behind the standpoints we adopt in Brussels or other forums, and the opportunity to to adopt one another’s point of view – or not, as the case may be. On some areas we agree, and on others we differ. What counts is that we understand each other and can work together more effectively.
The Utrecht Conference has been instrumental in this. I look forward to a successful continuation of this tradition!
Thank you.