Toespraak door Jan van Zanen bij de viering van de Nationale Dag van Chili, 17 september 2025

 

Sus excelencias,

Estimadas y estimados asistentes:

 

Chile y los Países Bajos mantienen lazos muy estrechos.

Por ese motivo, les agradezco enormemente la oportunidad que me han brindado de decir unas palabras.

Los lazos entre Chile y los Países Bajos son claramente visibles en los contactos diplomáticos, el comercio, la agricultura y en los intercambios científicos y culturales.

La Haya, que siempre se ha considerado un centro diplomático, facilita y apoya activamente estas tomas de contacto e intercambios.

Y también contamos con ejemplos de biografías chileno-neerlandesas.

Permítanme que continúe mi discurso en inglés.

 

Last week marked the fifty-second anniversary of the military coup in Chile.

That other ‘nine eleven’, from 1973.

As a result, several thousand Chileans came to the Netherlands.

Some later returned to Chile, while others stayed here.

To this day, they make up the Chilean community in the Netherlands.

Jorge Tapia was among those who arrived here in the 1970s, together with his family.

He had been Minister of Education and Justice in Salvador Allende’s government and was exiled by the Pinochet regime.

Jorge Tapia was appointed to Erasmus University in Rotterdam and was director of the Instituto para el Nuevo Chile.

After democracy was restored, Jorge Tapia, who had once come here as an exile, was appointed Chilean Ambassador to the Netherlands by President Patricio Aylwin.

That’s how life can turn out.

Another example of a Chilean-Dutch biography is that of Alberto van Klaveren, the current Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He was born in the Netherlands to Dutch Jewish parents who had survived the Second World War in hiding.

Together they emigrated to Chile, where Alberto van Klaveren grew up.

But where did he obtain his PhD in political science in 1978?

At Leiden University, a branch of which has also been located in The Hague for over 25 years.

Two examples, however different, of a life that connects our two countries.

Biographies such as you often find in The Hague.

After all, we are the city where the world feels at home.

This is largely due to the presence of you, ambassadors, diplomats and your partners and families.

Something that was once again beautifully evident during the Embassy Festival.

Since the First Peace Conference in 1899, The Hague has emerged as the international city of peace and justice.

Justice, that is also what the United Cities and Local Governments Peace Prize is all about.

This prize is awarded once every three years to a local authority that works to prevent or overcome conflict in their own community.

Or that helped other governments in their pursuit of peace and justice.

In doing so, the UCLG Peace Prize underlines the fundamental role municipalities worldwide play in promoting peaceful societies.

As president of United Cities and Local Governments, I am deeply committed to that.

I would like to draw your attention to the next UCLG Peace Prize award ceremony that will take place next year.

Last, but certainly not least, I warmly congratulate you and everyone present on this National Day of Chile.

As you know, in Chile, 18 September is Independence Day, and 19 September is Day of the Glories of the Army, known as the ‘Fiestas Patrias’.

We commemorate the anniversary of the first national government of 1810 – the first step towards independence for your people and country.

Your ancestors fought for years for this independence that included casualties.

The independence of a people was then, and is even now, not a given.

We must therefore cherish the right to self-determination as a great good.

And it is important for a people and a country to know what has been necessary for their self-determination, to know where it came from.

Because it says something about who you are, about your identity.

You cherish your history; you celebrate your ‘Fiestas Patrias’.

And rightly so.

Because that only strengthens the unique and vibrant national identity of the Chilean people, with its rich blend of European influences and indigenous traditions.

It is therefore an honour for me to be present at your most important national holiday, full of patriotic pride, traditional food, dancing and family gatherings.

I wish you and all your compatriots all the best and above all: peace and prosperity.

Viva Chile.