28th Peter Stuyvesant Dinner and Ball in New York
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Your Royal Highness, Professor Van Vollenhoven, Your Highnesses, Mr Bergsma, Mr Storm, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
What more fitting close to the NY400 year than the Peter Stuyvesant Ball? For decades, this has been the party at which the United States and the Netherlands celebrate their special friendship. I guess Peter Stuyvesant himself could never have suspected that he – a man with a wooden leg – would some day lend his name to a wonderful dance evening with music by the New York City Swing Orchestra.
Ladies and gentlemen, what lies at the heart of friendship? First that you share and cherish a common past. Second that you have the will and desire to face the future together.
Also true friendship, ladies and gentlemen, proves its value both in times of hardship and in times of prosperity. There could never be any doubt about the value of the firendship between the US and the Netherlands in hard times.
In the Netherlands of 2009 numerous sings prove this. From the stories of my grandmother who, at the age of 23 was offered a new life when being liberated by the Americans; to the silent witnesses like the USA cemetary of Margraten. Five kilometres from my home where 8301 US boys and girls were laid to rest. Boys and girls that sacrificed everything for our freedom. Dear friends from the US, this somtehing the Dutch will never forget.
Our friendship also proved it great value in times of prosperity.
In this respect the reason for this party is very symbolic. We are celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of the pride and joy of the Netherlands: KLM. The oldest airline in the world that is still operating under its original name. Past and future also meet here.
For ninety years, KLM has been a symbol of the faith of the Dutch in progress and open connections. The blue swans are our business cards across the globe, also after the merger with Air France in 2004.
More over, the KLM plays a very special role in our ties with the United States.
KLM executive Albert Plesman was able to obtain American planes shortly after the Second World War.
The trust that President Truman had in KLM under the motto ‘get now, pay later’, was invaluable.
The United States literally gave us wings.
As far back as February 1946, not even a year after the devastating war, the New York Times ran the headline: KLM Plans Ocean Flights. Thanks to the American support, KLM was able to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. To become the first European airline to start a scheduled service to New York! What a development this brought about.
Post-war air transport was increasing at such speed that it was hard to keep up. Flowers and other products were suddenly available in the States within 24 hours. A letter within two days. Hundreds of thousands of Dutch people took advantage of the new possibilities to visit family and friends in the United States. In this way, KLM stood at the basis of the growth in prosperity and the new optimism in the Netherlands in the fifties. The world became our playground.
As the Dutch minister of Transport, I am proud of our KLM:
- not only a company but also a ‘club’ of comitted workers.
- Together with Air France, it is the most sustainable airline in the world.
- It is the pillar of our mainport, Schiphol.
- And an icon of our friendship and cooperation with the United States. Not only in aviation (Northwest!), but also in many other areas.
And so I would like to congratulate KLM once again. Here’s to the next ninety years!
And so, here we are.
Friends with a shared past that is dear to us both.
Four hundred years after Henry Hudson’s crossing.
Sixtyfive years after Plesman’s crossing and his visit to President Truman.
And our journey continues.
I wish you all a fantastic evening.
Thank you for your attention.