Minister Plenipotentiary Hon. Josianne Fleming-Artsen recently met with Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Hon. Ronald Plasterk.
The meeting which took place at the Dutch Ministry for Interior and Kingdom Relations in The Hague, covered how the Kingdom partners can work better together and how relations can be strengthened.
The issue of “instructions” by the Kingdom Council of Ministers was also discussed and information was shared with respect to the basis of developing such for a particular country within the Kingdom.
One of the conclusions coming out of the meeting is to have quarterly sessions every two or three months between Minister Plenipotentiary and the Dutch Minister of Interior and Kingdom Relations.
Minister Plasterk also discussed his working visit to Sint Maarten and how he was looking forward to meeting the new Council of Ministers and Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs.
The three main topics to be discussed between Minister Plasterk and the Government of Sint Maarten are integrity, government finances and law enforcement.
Minister Plasterk will be meeting with the Government of Sint Maarten on Monday, January 19.
“In our deliberations, I pointed out we need to turn a new chapter in 2015. Trust is very important, and we need to trust each other in order to move forward together in our Kingdom which is made up of four countries.
“Sint Maarten is part and parcel of the Kingdom. The Kingdom Council of Ministers must allow Sint Maarten to prove itself, and this will take time when it comes to the implementation of various policies to deal with matters.
“The time is now for better communication so that we can move forward and I am very confident that we can achieve many things together,” Minister Plenipotentiary Hon. Josianne Fleming-Artsen said.
The meeting was part of Minister Fleming-Artsen’s introductory to the Dutch social, cultural, economic and political landscape as the new minister plenipotentiary.