Tag: Netherlands government

Project connects Americans to the Dutch people who honor their relatives at World War II cemetery

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DALLAS (AP) — In the decades since June West Brandt’s older brother was killed in World War II, her kind and artistic sibling who loved to play boogie-woogie on the piano has never been far from her mind. So she was delighted to discover he’s also being remembered by a Dutch couple who regularly visit a marker for him at a Netherlands cemetery.

“It’s wonderful for me to know that someone is there,” said Brandt, 93, who lives near Houston.

Her introduction over the summer to Lisa and Guido Meijers came by way of a new initiative aiming to increase the number of connections between the family members of those buried and remembered on the walls of the missing at the World War II cemetery and the Dutch people who have adopted each one.

The project was spurred on by “The Monuments Men” author Robert Edsel, whose newest book, “Remember Us,” tells the story of the adoption program at the Netherlands American Cemetery. His Dallas-based Monuments Men and Women Foundation teamed with the Dutch foundation responsible for the adoptions to create the Forever Promise Project, which has a searchable database of the names of U.S. service members buried and remembered at the cemetery.

“I’d like us to find and connect as many American families to their Dutch adopters as is possible,” Edsel said.

Ton Hermes, chairman of the Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten, said that while each of the about 8,300 graves and 1,700 markers for the missing at the cemetery near the village of Margraten have adopters, only about 20% to 30% of them are in contact with the service member’s relatives.

When the Meijerses adopted the marker for Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. William Durham “W.D.” West Jr. several years ago, they knew only basic information about the 20-year-old whose body was never recovered after his B-24 bomber was shot down over the North Sea on a mission into Nazi Germany.

Through talking with Brandt, they’ve learned that West was “quite a creative soul,” Lisa Meijers said.

“That obviously makes a huge change in how to remember someone,” she said.

Brandt said her brother loved to paint and played the piano by ear, and even though she was six years younger, they were “big buddies” growing up in the small western Louisiana city of DeRidder.

“We loved being together, so it was very hard when he left,” Brandt said.

Brandt’s daughter, Allison Brandt Woods, said it’s heartwarming knowing Meijerses are watching over the marker. Woods met up with them on a recent trip and hopes the connection between their families will continue with future generations.

The cemetery, Lisa Meijers said, is among many reminders of World War II in the southern Netherlands, which was liberated by Allied forces in September 1944 after over four years of Nazi occupation.

“We just really feel how extremely important it is to remember these things and to honor the sacrifices these people made for us,” she said.

The Meijerses, who have a 1-year-old son, visit West’s marker about once a month, bringing flowers.

Hermes said the program is so popular that there’s a waiting list to adopt a grave or marker.

Names on the walls for the missing were opened up for adoption in 2008, said Frans Roebroeks, secretary for the Dutch adoption foundation. The formal adoption process for graves began to take shape during a 1945 meeting of the Margraten town council.

“They were meeting to figure out the answer to the question: How do you thank your liberators when they are no longer alive to thank?” Edsel said.

Many initial adopters took on the grave of someone they had gotten to know.

“Once they heard their soldier was killed in action, the Dutch people decided to adopt his grave, to bring flowers and to correspond with the wives or mothers in the United States,” Hermes said.

Roebroeks said many of the graves have been cared for by the same family since the end of the war, including one that’s been passed down through his family. He said Army Pfc. Henry Wolf had stayed at his grandfather’s farm and became “like a son” to him.

Wolf’s grave has passed from Roebroeks’ grandfather to his mother and now to his sister, who will pass it to her daughter, he said.

“That grave stays in the family,” he said.

Edsel said that so far, over 300 families have asked to be put in touch with their adopters.

“And we’re just starting,” he said.

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October 16, 2025
Amsterdam court gives green light to plan to reduce flights at busy Schiphol Airport

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Appeals court judges in Amsterdam ruled Friday that the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000.

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal overturned a lower court that concluded in April the government of the Netherlands did not follow the correct procedure when it told Schiphol last year to cut flights.

The airport, civil aviation organizations and airlines that included Dutch flag carrier KLM challenged the government’s order. Friday’s decision can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court.

A powerful summer storm lashing the Netherlands and parts of Germany has killed at least two people and forced one of Europe’s busiest airports to cancel or delay hundreds of flights.

Netherlands forward Quincy Promes has been convicted of stabbing his cousin in the leg and has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — An alliance of northern European nations pledged Tuesday to do more to protect critical undersea and offshore infrastructure in the face of shared challenges, including what they alleged was Russian ships conducting mapping that indicated “preparations for possible disruption and, a

In “Occupied City,” a young woman with an even voice narrates Nazi encounters and crimes throughout Amsterdam during World War II.

The Amsterdam appeals court said in a statement Friday that it “attaches considerable weight to the interests of local residents” in the densely populated region where people have complained for years about noise pollution from the airport.

In a written response, Schiphol said it accepted the ruling and hopes for a new aviation traffic order from Dutch authorities “as soon as possible with clear and enforceable environmental limits that provide clarity and perspective for all parties involved.”

The airport said that “the most important thing for us is that Schiphol becomes quieter, cleaner and better.”

KLM said it was “disappointed about the ruling” and studying it.

The carrier said it would “continue to engage with other stakeholders in seeking the best way to reduce the number of people affected by aircraft noise.”

Schiphol already is attempting to address the issue. Earlier this year, the airport announced plans to phase out all flights between midnight and 5 a.m., to ban private jets and the noisiest planes, and to abandon a project for an additional runway.

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July 14, 2023
Europe hosts southeast Asian leaders as own crises mount

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BRUSSELS — European Union and southeast Asian countries commemorated 45 years of diplomatic ties Wednesday at a summit overshadowed by political distractions in Europe, ranging from the war in Ukraine to a bribery scandal.

EU leaders hosted counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in a nod to Asia’s economic rise. But the meeting comes at a time of increasing difficulties in the 27-nation European bloc.

“We have to make sure that we have a strong position in our relationship with ASEAN,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters in Brussels. “We are talking about worldwide supply chains. We are talking about growth potential.”

The EU is looking for trade and investment possibilities across much of the world, especially in emerging economies, after its economy was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic before the war in Ukraine compounded the problems and put the bloc at risk of a recession.

Disrupted Russian energy supplies have affected financial markets and driven up inflation, driving up the consumer cost of everything from food to heating. Along with seeking out new sources abroad and at home, the EU is weighing devoting extra funds to help businesses in Europe cope with high energy prices and to counter an American subsidy spree.

But the bloc’s struggle to impose a price cap on Russian natural gas and a European Parliament corruption case have distracted attention away from Wednesday’s one-day EU-ÁSEAN summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who flew to Qatar to watch France’s semifinal match against Morocco in the World Cup on Wednesday evening, did not attend the event. On the side of the 10-nation ASEAN, Myanmar’s junta leader – Min Aung Hlaing – was absent because the EU refused to invite him.

The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The members, ,which together represent 660 million people, rank among the world’s top 10 economies.

High on the agenda was a push for deeper infrastructure ties between the EU and ASEAN, with Europe seeking projects under its “Global Gateway” program that is something of a European answer to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative.”

“In the global world that we are living in today, it is very important that we are connected to like-minded countries,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.

Both sides also focused on creating more clean energy to fight climate change and on deepening economic relations through greater trade. An EU push more than a decade ago for a free-trade agreement with ASEAN as a whole gave way to targeted deals with individual members.

The EU has negotiated trade pacts with Singapore and Vietnam and is in talks with Indonesia on a similar accord. European free-trade negotiations with Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines are on hold.

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December 14, 2022
Croatia to join Europe’s ID-check-free area, others to wait

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BRUSSELS — European Union countries agreed Thursday to allow Croatia to fully open its borders and participate in Europe’s ID-check-free travel zone, but Bulgaria and Romania were told that they must wait longer to be allowed in.

“The Schengen area is growing for the first time in more than a decade,” the Czech Republic, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency tweeted after a meeting of interior ministers in Brussels. “Ministers approved Croatia’s membership as of 1 January 2023!”

The so-called Schengen area is the world’s largest free travel zone. It comprises 26 countries — 22 EU states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Almost 1.7 million people live in one Schengen country and work in another. Around 3.5 million people cross an internal border each day.

Austria, in particular, had objected to Bulgaria and Romania joining, citing migration concerns.

“When it comes to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria we are not united and that makes us very weak and that makes me also sad,” Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told reporters after the decision was announced.

“You deserve to be full members of Schengen, you deserve to have access to the free movement in the Schengen area,” Johansson said, adding that the two had strong support from almost all the ministers present.

Full accession for the EU’s newest members — Bulgaria and Romania joined the bloc in 2007, Croatia in 2013 — required unanimous support from their partners.

Last month, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, ruled that all three candidate countries meet the technical criteria for joining, and the European Parliament has also voted in favor of their membership.

Croatia’s bid received no notable opposition from its EU partners, and the government in Zagreb hailed the news.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic wrote on Facebook that, with the open borders, Croatia “has fulfilled the strategic goals of the government” and that “citizens and the economy will have the biggest benefit.”

“Croatia is in Schengen!” Deputy Prime Minister Davor Božinović enthused.

“There are no more borders on our European journey. We met all the conditions, went through a long and demanding process,” he said. “With Croatia in Schengen, everyone benefits — the citizens, the economy, Croatia and the EU.”

But ahead of Thursday’s meeting Austria appeared almost certain to veto the Bulgarian and Romanian bids over immigration, as increasing numbers of people cross its borders without authorization via the Balkans region.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner renewed his country’s staunch opposition, noting that more than 100,000 people have entered Austria this year without authorization.

“The system is not working right now,” he told reporters.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also sparked a furor last week when he alleged that Bulgarian border security officials could accept cash bribes.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev hit back, writing on Facebook that three Bulgarian border officials have been killed in recent months while protecting the bloc’s external borders. “Instead of European solidarity,” Radev said, “Bulgaria receives cynicism.”

In an effort to ease their partners’ concerns, Bulgaria and Romania invited EU fact-finding missions with national experts twice in recent months to see how things have improved.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country has a clear position: “We want Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania to be fully part of the Schengen area and will continue to work for that.”

“We are also confident that we will succeed in the end,” he added. “This was a day of decisions today, there are more to come, very soon even.”

The President of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, wrote on Facebook after the decision was announced, that “Austria’s unfair opposition is a free Christmas gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“European unity and stability have today received a hard blow from a state that has chosen, in difficult times, to abandon its European comrades and serve … the interests of Russia,” Ciolacu said. “Austria is clearly disconnected from Europe.”

Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev was cautiously optimistic after Thursday’s announcement, saying that he thought common ground could be found to overcome the objections of Austria, and perhaps the Netherlands.

“Austria already signaled that there are mechanisms, compromises that it is ready to accept. So, the talks will continue,” he told reporters.

Honor Keleman, Romania’s Deputy Prime Minister, however, was incensed by the result and vowed to “continue to fight” to join Schengen “without giving in to Austria’s miserable blackmail.”

“Austria’s veto is unfair, immoral, lacking solid arguments, showing a miserable political game,” he wrote on Facebook. “Yes, it is a miserable decision against every Romanian citizen … against the laws governing freedom of movement within the European Union.”

Rights group Amnesty International also noted the decisions with concern, pointing to reports and evidence about migrants being unlawfully detained in some EU countries, notably Croatia.

“Today’s announcement that Croatia is joining the Schengen area shows that the EU condones, and even rewards, these illegal practices, and is willing to sacrifice human rights to prevent people from entering the EU,” said Amnesty’s Western Balkans Researcher Jelena Sesar.

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McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania. Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this story.

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December 8, 2022
China accused of using overseas bases to target dissidents

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — China has reportedly established dozens of “overseas police stations” in nations around the world that activists fear could be used to track and harass dissidents as part of Beijing’s crackdown on corruption.

Information about the outposts underscored concerns about the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s influence over its citizens abroad, sometimes in ways deemed illegal by other countries, as well as the undermining of democratic institutions and the the theft of economic and political secrets by bodies affiliated with the one-party state.

Spanish-based non-government group Safeguard Defenders published a report last month, called “110 Overseas. Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild,” that focused on the foreign stations.

Laura Harth, a campaign director with the group, told The Associated Press that China has set up at least 54 overseas police service stations.

“One of the aims of these campaigns, obviously, as it is to crack down on dissent, is to silence people,” Harth said. “So people are afraid. People that are being targeted, that have family members back in China, are afraid to speak out.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Thursday that Beijing wasn’t doing anything wrong. “Chinese public security authorities strictly observe the international law and fully respect the judicial sovereignty of other countries,” Mao said.

Many of the facilities appeared to have links to the Fuzhou and Qingtian areas, where many overseas Chinese originate.

The Irish government said it told China to close a Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station operating in Dublin. The Department of Foreign Affairs said Chinese authorities did not make an advance request to set up the office.

“Actions of all foreign states on Irish territory must be in compliance with international law and domestic law requirements,” the Irish government said, noting why it had told the Chinese Embassy that the office “should close and cease operations.”

“The Chinese Embassy has now stated that the activities of the office have ceased,” it said.

The Dutch government said this week it was looking into whether two such police stations — one a virtual office in Amsterdam and the other at a physical address in Rotterdam — were established in the Netherlands.

“We are investigating the activities of these so-called police centers. Once there is more clarity on the matter, we will decide on appropriate action,” the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement sent to the AP. “We have not been informed about these centers via diplomatic channels.”

Another Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, described the foreign outposts identified by Safeguard Defenders as service stations for Chinese people who are abroad and in need of help with, for instance, renewing their driver’s licenses.

Wang added that China also has cracked down on what he called transnational crimes but said the operation was conducted in line with international law.

In its report, Safeguard Defenders reproduced Chinese media accounts about people suspected of alleged crimes in China being interrogated by video link from some of the locations in other countries that Beijing allegedly did not declare to other governments.

In one instance, according to the group, a Chinese man accused of environmental crimes was persuaded in 2020 to return from Madrid to Qingtian, in Zhejiang province, where he turned himself in to authorities.

Visits by The Associated Press to some of the locations identified by Safeguard Defenders in Rome, Madrid and Barcelona found, respectively, a massage parlor, the Spanish headquarters of an association of citizens from Qingtian and a firm providing legal translation services. There was no indication of police stations or other activity directly related to the Chinese government.

A worker at the Barcelona translation company confirmed to the AP that a Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station operated on the premises for a few weeks this year in a test-drive capacity.

The employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists, the press, said the police service center offered document renewal services to Fuzhou citizens living in the Barcelona region who could not return to China due to pandemic travel restrictions and the high cost of flights.

According to Safeguard Defenders, China claims 230,000 suspects of fraud were “persuaded to return” to China from April 2021 to July 2022.

“These operations eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity of third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods,” its report said.

The European Union’s executive arm said Thursday it was up to member countries to investigate such allegations since it would be a matter of national sovereignty.

A Hungarian opposition lawmaker claimed this month to have discovered two sites in Budapest where Chinese overseas police stations operated without the knowledge of the country’s Interior Ministry.

The lawmaker, Marton Tompos, said one of the two locations in Hungary’s capital had a sign that said Qingtian Overseas Police Station. Tompos said he was unable to contact anyone affiliated with the sites and that when he visited again days later, the sign had been removed.

The Hungarian Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to AP questions on the matter.

Three informal Chinese police stations are operating in Portugal, Safeguard Defenders reported. Portuguese authorities did not immediately reply to AP questions about the claim.

A Portuguese TV report said one of the venues, located in an industrial complex in northern Portugal, appeared to be a car shop operated by a Chinese man. The man denied any connection with the Chinese government, though broadcaster S.I.C. Noticias showed him in a video promoting the Beijing Winter Olympics and said he heads a local association that helps Chinese immigrants.

In Tanzania, both police and the Chinese Embassy have denied the presence of a Chinese-run police station in the country’s commercial hub and former capital, Dar es Salaam, after the BBC reported on it last week.

“You are fabricating stories,” the embassy tweeted, calling the report an example of disinformation aimed at dividing China-Africa relations. A police spokesman sent the AP a copy of China’s denial in response to questions Thursday.

In Lesotho, a kingdom in southern Africa, national police Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli also denied the existence of any Chinese law enforcement activities. He said such operations would be illegal as any form of policing in Lesotho is conducted by local authorities.

Over his decade in power, Chinese President Xi Jinping has pushed a relentless anti-corruption drive that has seen tens of millions of Communist Party cadres investigated and expanded overseas via a pair of campaigns known as Sky Net and Fox Hunt. Both are tasked with locating allegedly corrupt officials who have fled abroad and convincing them to return to China with their stolen state assets.

Since China began opening up in the 1980s, corruption has been a major problem among those enjoying access to state funds and resources with few safeguards in place, and cash was often squirreled away abroad, particularly in the U.S. and other countries without extradition treaties with China.

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Herbert Moyo in Maseru, Lesotho, Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya, Francesco Sportelli and Maria Grazia Murru in Rome, Justin Spike in Budapest, Renata Brito in Barcelona, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Jill Lawless in London and AP reporters in China contributed to this story.

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October 27, 2022