Paul Arkwright

Copenhagen - pulling together a global deal is the key

EU Ambassadors were invited this week to a briefing by Jacqueline Cramer, the Dutch environment Minister. She gave a sobering assessment of the prospects for success at the forthcoming Copenhagen Climate Summit. She noted that, with only 23 days to go, a determined EU - and international - effort is necessary to create the conditions for an agreement. Gordon Brown has announced he will attend, and Ms Cramer confirmed that the Dutch Prime Minister will also be there - a strong signal of the seriousness with which The Netherlands government is taking the summit. The EU has taken a lead in the preparations and has set itself ambitious objectives for reductions in carbon emissions. But the key will be to pull together a global deal covering developed and developing countries. I and the Embassy team are staying in close touch with our Dutch colleagues as Copenhagen approaches. 

Posted at 14:36 13 November 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

A time for reflection at Remembrance Day services

A particularly poignant day for me – 20 years ago I was on my first Foreign Office posting in West Berlin when I witnessed the Wall coming down. How can I forget the euphoria of the city as east and west came together – excitement, hope and uncertainty mingled in the human tide flooding through the crossing at Bornholmer Strasse? A sense of history being made, but no idea of what would come next.  And yesterday a time for reflection as I participated in Remembrance Day services and commemorations in The Hague to honour those who have fought and died in conflict throughout the world. Yet again, I was reminded of the gratitude and respect here in The Netherlands between liberated and liberators as children laid flowers on the graves of Commonwealth servicemen killed in World War 2.  The Fall of the Wall in effect ended the divisions created by WW2. I thought back to those tumultuous events in 1989 as the cemetery in The Hague fell silent after the playing of the Last Post.

Posted at 16:57 09 November 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[1]

Speculation about EU “top jobs”

The press here (as elsewhere in Europe) is full of speculation about EU “top jobs”, and in particular whether Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch PM, is a candidate for the job as full-time President of the European Council. There’s a large appetite in London for news on Mr Balkenende’s prospects and intentions. Of course, as yet there’s no job available – at least not until the Czech President has signed Czech ratification of the Lisbon Treaty – and Mr Balkenende has said that he is not a candidate. Many in his governing coalition have made it clear they want him to stay here; the prospect of new elections which may follow his departure to Brussels is not particularly appealing to some parties. I’ll have an opportunity to test the political temperature this week when a number of Dutch MPs are coming to a dinner I’m hosting for the UK House of Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs. The next few days and weeks are going to be very interesting....

Posted at 15:16 02 November 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

UK campaigns for international positions

It’s been a tough few days. Our campaign to promote the candidature of John Freeman for Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons moved into high gear with the visit of Ivan Lewis, FCO Minister of State, to The Hague. We organised a series of bilateral meetings and a lunch with key Ambassadors. The Minister and I pressed Ambassadors to support John this week at the OPCW’s Executive Council discussions. The answers were long on praise for John’s qualities, but short on specific promises of support.

And as the week went by, we realised that other candidates were picking up more support. We faced the difficult decision of pressing on with John’s campaign, in the face of increasing odds, or deciding that withdrawal was the sensible option. After much soul-searching, we judged that the game was up, and the Foreign Secretary decided we should withdraw John.  A disappointing end to a high profile campaign for an exceptional UK candidate. It’s important we learn lessons about future UK campaigns for international positions.

The OPCW negotiations were punctuated by news from London that Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch PVV (Freedom Party), had won his appeal against exclusion from the UK (a decision taken by the then Home Secretary in February on the grounds that Mr Wilders’ views could stir up inter-faith violence). Mr Wilders spoke to me a couple of times during the week to check whether, in the light of the verdict, he would be allowed to travel to the UK. Having consulted the Home Office, I told him that the Home Secretary had decided not to deny him entry. There has been a lot of publicity and debate here and in the UK about the decision. While many here disagree with Mr Wilders’ views, there is a strong attachment to the principle of freedom of speech in the Netherlands.

Posted at 18:22 16 October 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[1]

Blog Action Day 2009: Carbon Capture and Storage

This week I have been following the climate change debates in both London and The Hague. With  the  Copenhagen  meeting  coming ever closer the discussions  are beginning to focus on the “how” of combating climate change refreshing practical ideas against the doom and gloom projections of runaway climate change - the emphasis being on projects that can really help reduce CO2 emissions: energy efficiency programmes that provide local jobs,  large-scale renewables in the North Sea linked by a super grid to provide energy security ;  and carbon capture and storage  (CCS) projects that link up the most polluting emitters and allow them a cost effective way of permanently storing CO2. These projects are perceived in the Netherlands as giving the Dutch economy a way out the economic downturn and providing much needed  jobs.

There is a lot of expertise to share between the UK and the Netherlands with both having won EU funding for a CCS demonstration project in Hatfield in Yorkshire and in Maasvlakte near Rotterdam last week. This was illustrated when David Milliband and Carl Bildt went to Rotterdam to see the E.ON/TNO CCS pilot project at Maasvlakte.   

Action now is more important than ever. And Dutch activists, for example our friends at places like the Rotterdam Climate Inititiative and TNO,  are helping us grapple with the modern engineering challenges of Carbon Capture and Storage. This builds on their centuries old expertise in managing water and the impacts that rising sea levels have had on The Netherlands.

Posted at 15:42 15 October 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

Engaging with & investing in local communities is part of answer to economic crisis

I spent the first part of this week in Belfast, at the UK-Dutch Apeldoorn Conference 2009. The conference brought together an intriguing mix of politicians, journalists, academics, business and local community leaders - and a few diplomats. We spent much of the time talking about trust and social cohesion - and what that meant for citizenship in an economic downturn.

The theme of trust was particularly apposite in Belfast, where the republican and loyalist communities have had to put aside deeply-ingrained conceptions about each other and get on with building a society which serves both communities equally. I was struck by the experiences of participants who actively engage in improving the communities in which they live, such as Genevieve Dowokpor, Chief Executive of Youthology, a youth social enterprise organisation based in East London, and Heleen Terwijn who has set up 9 "weekend schools" for immigrant children in underprivileged parts of Dutch cities. The views of those who tackle social problems at grass roots levels are always worth listening to - they help to put theoretical solutions into perspective.

The Apeldoorn Conference has always encouraged engagement between business and social issues. Carmel McConnell, founder of Magic Breakfast, a UK business and charity delivering free breakfasts to low income primary schools was an inspirational speaker urging us to turn ideas into action. And I had a fascinating insight into the world of the Dutch internet from Ben Woldring, one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. I left Belfast convinced that as part of our response to the economic crisis we must engage, and invest, more in local communities.  

Posted at 15:51 09 October 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

Decision to stay in Afghanistan has important international dimension

We had a lovely event at the residence on Wednesday - a group of veterans and their families who live in the Netherlands and who were entitled to receive the Veterans Service Badge.  A (Dutch) piper welcomed them to the house and I presented the badges together with my Defence Attache. The oldest recipient was a 91-year old who joined the army at 14! It was another reminder, after the weekend at Arnhem, of the close ties between the UK and Netherlands military communities. In my speech, I recalled the bravery and sacrifice of British and Dutch military forces currently serving in Afghanistan.
 

 
Straight after the reception I went to the Dutch Parliament to listen to the debate about the current Dutch mission in Uruzgan, and whether it should be extended in some form. There were clearly strong feelings on both sides, and a sharp difference of view between the partners in the governing coalition. As I write, it seems unlikely that a continuation of the mission will be possible. This is of course an internal decision for the Dutch government and parliament, but it has an important international dimension which can sometimes get lost in the heat of the argument. As one of the main contributors of troops in Afghanistan, the UK is looking to all our NATO allies to support the ISAF operation. I have been encouraging politicians and officials here to consider the range of options open to the Netherlands once the Uruzgan mission ends next year. It will be particularly important to safeguard the enormous development effort made by the Netherlands in Afghanistan, which has made a real difference on the ground. 

Posted at 14:52 02 October 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

Financial crisis is no excuse

I spent Saturday afternoon at an event in The Hague organised by Bert Koenders, Minister for Development Cooperation. A large number of  people, including Crown Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima, were gathered to celebrate 60 years of Dutch development aid. During the day, a series of lectures and workshops discussed development issues, encompassing the role of sport, private sector organisations, youth and NGOs. A panel of international experts discussed the challenges ahead. Participants included former President of Ghana, John Kufuor, and former UK Minister, Lord Mark Malloch Brown. The event finished with a speech from Minister Koenders and a concert featuring Ali B, a Dutch rapper of Moroccan origin, who wrote a rap especially for this event. I was struck by the optimism of the participants, tempered by a realisation that there is still a long way to go to meet the 2015 Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Above all, there was a clear sense that the global financial crisis should not be used as an excuse for cutting back on governments’ development aid. The excellent cooperation between the Dutch development ministry and the UK’s Department for International Development was emphasised by many I spoke to. In many areas of the world, not least in Afghanistan, the UK and the Netherlands are working closely together in pursuit of the MDGs.

I bumped into Stella Ronner, Dutch Ambassador for the MDGs – and an old friend from my posting in Paris. Coming across former colleagues in unexpected places is one of the nice things about this diplomacy business. Back home in time to check on the football scores – Bolton Wanderers scored in the last 5 minutes to beat Birmingham. Good excuse to crack open a bottle of beer…

Posted at 11:48 29 September 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

John Freeman, the next Director General at the OPCW?

One of the reasons why I applied for the job as Ambassador in The Hague was the multilateral aspect of the work. The Hague plays host to a number of international institutions, including The International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and Tribunals on the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone and Lebanon. Another institution here close to my heart is the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Before I came to The Hague I was for 3 years head of the counter-proliferation department in the Foreign Office in London. The OPCW was part of my responsibilities, so I know all about the key issues affecting the organisation. It’s something of an unsung success story – a highly competent technical body charged with the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention – the only international treaty aimed at abolishing a whole class of weapons. This week Simon Manley, the FCO’s Director for Strategic Threats, has been in The Hague to encourage OPCW states to support John Freeman, the UK candidate to succeed Rogelio Pfirter, the current Director General who has done an excellent job in managing the organisation. John is Mr Pfirter’s deputy and has played a significant part in the successful leadership of the organisation over the past 3 years. Simon and I met a lot of Ambassadors and officials who agreed with us that John is by some distance the most qualified candidate. But there are other good candidates, and my experience in multilateral diplomacy has taught me that the best qualified candidate does not always succeed....

Simon left The Hague satisfied that we have put across some telling points about John’s suitability for the job. There are some critical meetings ahead, and we are deploying our posts around the world to argue John’s case. The campaign is going to take up a fair amount of my own time over the next few weeks.

Posted at 14:02 24 September 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

A moving and emotional weekend in a festive atmosphere

Queen Beatrix and Prince Philip were at Nijmegen on Sunday, marking the liberation of the city by the British and US forces as part of Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

I spent the weekend in Arnhem, Oosterbeek and Driel at a series of events commemorating the heroic efforts of British and Polish paratroopers to take and hold the bridge at Arnhem (the “bridge too far”), the most ambitious and dangerous element of Market Garden. I was expecting a sombre occasion recalling the failure of the operation with British, Polish and Dutch survivors. It was indeed a moving and emotional weekend,  but alongside the solemnity, painful recollections and tributes to fallen comrades, I found a festive atmosphere with an astonishing number of World War 2 vehicles, “reenacters” in WW2 uniforms and celebrations of the extraordinary bonds formed between the people of the area and the British and Polish soldiers who fought for their freedom.

The veterans stay with the local families they visit every year. Smiles of recognition and laughter at shared memories contrasted with the silent tears at the Oosterbeek cemetery as a lone bugler played the Last Post at the memorial service on Sunday. Our children joined a thousand local Dutch kids laying flowers at each fallen soldier’s grave – a wonderful Dutch tradition in which the younger generation pays respect to the dead of the world wars. In Driel, close to the drop zone of the Polish battalion who jumped under the command of Major General Sosabowski, I sat next to the General’s great grandson who spoke at the ceremony alongside the Dutch and Polish Prime Ministers. He paid tribute to the British veterans who had ensured that a monument to his great grandfather was erected – helping to give overdue recognition to the man who was unfairly scapegoated for his part in the operation.

Among the participants was Bob Ainsworth, UK Defence Secretary, who enjoyed the opportunity to meet the veterans, thank the local community for their fantastic support, and visit the newly refurbished  Airborne Museum at Osterbeek. His visit also provided a valuable opportunity to discuss current issues such as Afghanistan with his Dutch counterpart, and senior Dutch military commanders.

Among the many impressions I brought back to The Hague, three stand out - The “leader of the pilgrimage” and veteran of the battle Sir James Cleminson warmly shaking the hand of a Dutch child who had just laid flowers at a British soldier’s grave; the gasps of delight from the crowd as the Red Devils parachute team made a daring landing at high speed in front of the Airborne Museum; the dignity and determination of three Polish veterans walking slowly in step towards the Polish memorial to lay a wreath in memory of their friends and comrades.

Posted at 15:23 22 September 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

Netherlands not exempt from global economic crisis

I’m in my morning coat again – the second time in a week. This time the Ambassadors  are dressed up for the Queen’s speech from the throne – the traditional presentation of the government’s programme for the coming year. It’s held on the third Tuesday in September – as inscribed on the Finance Minister’s briefcase.

The streets are full of cheering crowds, mostly dressed in orange, as the Queen arrives at the 13th Century “Ridderzaal” in her golden coach, accompanied by members of her family. A festive occasion on a grey and blustery day – weather matched by the serious message underlying the Queen’s speech: the Netherlands is not exempt from the global economic crisis and tough measures will need to be taken in the coming year to help pull the country out of recession.

After the speech the Ambassadors are invited to the Mauritshuis museum for a drink – a chance to meet some more of my new colleagues. A very friendly group – and some familiar faces from previous postings. It’s nice when people recognise you from the past – even if you can’t always remember their names...

Posted at 15:42 17 September 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[0]

Extraordinary occasion and one I will never forget

I was told when I arrived here that 9 September is a lucky day for the Dutch. It certainly turned out to be a busy one for me.

At 0800 my wife and I were waving off our 2 excited but apprehensive children on their first day at their new school. By 0900 I was in my morning coat greeting the Queen's Chamberlain at my house as we prepared for the ceremony at which I was to present my letter of credentials to HM Queen Beatrix - an extraordinary occasion and one I will never forget. My wife and I were picked up in a horse-drawn carriage for the short ride to the Noordeinde Palace. There we were greeted by a guard of honour who played the British National Anthem.

It was a proud moment for me - perhaps the first time that it had really sunk in that I was an Ambassador - an honour and a privilege to be representing my country in the Netherlands which has such strong and historical links with the UK. After I had inspected the Guard of Honour (impeccably turned out of course) I went into the Palace to present my credentials. I spoke to Her Majesty in Dutch. I was pleased she understood my accent!  After I had introduced some of my Embassy staff my wife Tricia joined us and we discussed issues of the day, and how we were settling into our new life. Her Majesty was extremely well-informed about current issues in the UK, so I had to be on my toes!
 
The carriage took us back to the house where I quickly changed into my suit and went to meet the UK Foreign Secretary. He was in The Hague as part of  a tour of Europe with Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister, to encourage  a more concerted European approach to the climate change negotiations leading up to the important Copenhagen meeting December. Our host for lunch was Maxime Verhagen, Dutch Foreign Minister - the second time I had met him that day as he was with Queen Beatrix at my credentials ceremony. The Ministers agreed to make full use of their networks of overseas posts to promote the Copenhagen agenda. Other topics included Afghanistan and the Middle East, both important issues where the UK and Netherlands share common interests in promoting peace and stability.
 
My day wasn't (quite) over. After dictating a record of the lunch discussion, I headed back home to brief a group of visiting British MPs and Members of the House of Lords, in the Netherlands to meet their counterparts in the Dutch Parliament. I and some Embassy colleagues explained some of the key political issues in the Netherlands, and gave some background on the MPs, journalists and academics they would meet at a dinner at my house the following day. There was still time to hear all about the children's first day at school - a nice reminder that everyday life goes on for the rest of the family!

Posted at 17:05 15 September 2009 by Paul Arkwright  |  Comments[3]