Balkenende appeals
for positive attitude
WILLEMSTAD--Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende says his visit to the Netherlands Antilles went very well. He made this statement Thursday afternoon during a press briefing at the military air base in Curaçao just before leaving for Aruba.
He made an appeal to maintain the positive attitude he had encountered with many of the contacts he met during his visit.
“The painful measure to send back Antilleans and Arubans is off the table. We are busy drafting a Kingdom Law regulating the movement of people, making it possible to deal with hardened criminals in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. We can look each other straight in the eye again,” Balkenende said.
He appealed to everyone to “contribute to the process of joint responsibility and work further on positive developments.”
Balkenende has toured the Netherlands Antilles with Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten since Monday. The main reason for his visit was the ongoing constitutional change process of the islands.
He said he believed the coalition parties in Curaçao were committed to complete the process successfully. Opposition parties have a lot of criticism on the process, but in his view, they don’t offer an alternative.
Besides meeting with politicians, Balkenende made time available to talk to the youth. “The meetings I had with the youth really inspired me.”
He regretted the fact that the positive and optimistic success stories of Antillean youth don’t receive enough attention in the Dutch media.
“There is a lot development and perspective in the Netherlands Antilles. I have seen this during the talks I have had. We have to try to hold on to them. A negative sphere of slowing down the process will not help with anything,” he said.
