A welcome
speech was given by Monsieur Jacques Santer, President of the Board
of Directors, who reminded the gathering of the purpose of the
ceremony and thanked the President of the Senate, Mme Broekers-Knol
for putting the hall at our disposition as well as thanking the
staff of the Information Bureau of the European Parliament in The
Hague for their help in preparing the hall for us.
- Laudation to
recipients, and the presentation, of Medals were as follows:
Recipient |
Award |
Nationality |
Laudation given by |
Geert MAK |
Gold |
The Netherlands |
Jacques
Santer, President of the Board of Directors |
Caroline de GRUYTER |
Silver |
The Netherlands |
Gerhard van den Berge,
Vice-President
of the Board
of Directors |
Koos van HOUDT |
Silver |
The Netherlands |
Edouard
Slootweg, Head of the Information Bureau of the European Parliament in the Netherlands |
Gerhard van den Berge wrote afterwards:
«
Au cours d’une cérémonie qui a eu lieu le 2 juin 2016 dans la salle plénière du Sénat (Eerste Kamer) néerlandais à La Haye, en la présence de la
présidente de cette institution, le président Santer a remis la médaille d’or de la Fondation à Geert Mak, publiciste et historien de renommée internationale. Geert Mak est l’auteur de nombreux livres et articles sur des sujets divers, tels que le déclin progressif de la culture paysanne en Europe et l’histoire des Pays-Bas au 20ième siècle. Dans l’ouvrage intitulé « En Europe » qui a été traduit en 12 langues et diffusé en 34 émissions par la chaîne ARTE, Geert Mak décrit un voyage à travers notre continent qui est aussi et surtout un voyage à travers l’histoire de l’Europe du 20ième siècle et qui constitue en même temps un impressionnant témoignage de foi en les valeurs partagées par les peuples européens.
Caroline de Gruyter, correspondant du prestigieux quotidien NRC à Vienne a reçu à cette occasion la médaille d’argent qu’elle doit à la qualité de ses articles sur l’intégration européenne. Enfin, un troisième récipiendaire, Koos van Houdt, médaille d’argent également, s’est distingué par ses travaux sur la coopération interrégionale transfrontalière »
Translation: "During a ceremony held June 2, 2016 in the Plenary Hall of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) in The Hague, Netherlands, in the presence of the president of this institution, President Santer presented the Fondation's Gold Medal to Geert Mak, publicist and internationally renowned historian. Geert Mak is the author of numerous books and articles on various topics, such as the gradual decline of the peasant culture in Europe and the history of the Netherlands in the 20th century. In the book "In Europe," which has been translated into 12 languages and distributed in 34 editions by ARTE, Geert Mak describes a journey across our continent, which is, above all, a journey through the history of Europe of the 20th century and which also constitutes an impressive declaration of faith in the values shared by the peoples of Europe. Caroline de Gruyter, matching the prestigious daily NRC in Vienna received, at this same ceremony, the Silver Medal for the quality of her articles on European integration. A third recipient, Koos van Houdt, also received the Silver Mmedal for his distinguished work on cross-border interregional cooperation."
Two
musical interludes were performed by flautists Mirjam Teepe and
Tineke van Geuns.
A reception was generously provided after the
ceremony.
The Luxembourg Ambassador to The Netherlands kindly
offered dinner to fifteen guests in the evening.