The bomb dogs come, her coffee house has to close, she goes on vacation. Natalie den Houter (53), owner of ‘t Statenplein, has since been lowered. Of course, she is disappointed. She would have liked all the agents, all those delegation members and journalists, with a cup of coffee and a Hague sandwich ball.
But a week before the NATO summit, which starts on Tuesday in The Hague, the wooden coffee house from the 1930s is already surrounded by a forest of deposits, surveillance cameras and yellow diversion signs. From this Friday the streets around the World Forum, where the top is held, are hermetically sealed. “Intimidating,” says Den Houter. Regular customers have stayed away for a while, but she did see dozens of Hagenaars come cycling to “take a look”.
They take photos at the four -meter high fences, clank to concrete blocks with steel cables. Nettie Hensbroek (77) takes one of the entrance for the media. She worked as an information officer for NATO in the 1970s. “Then it wasn’t that big yet,” she points to the three temporary buildings that were built especially for the top and were placed in the middle of the street.
These days are two flavors in The Hague: on the one hand proud, on the other hand.
Proud: The Hague puts down nicely as a metropolis. Forty -five government leaders will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, ninety ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, six thousand delegation members and two thousand journalists. To secure them, the largest safety and logistics operation ever takes place in the Netherlands: Operation Orange Shield. Five thousand soldiers and reservists were deployed, five thousand Marechaussee and 27,000 police officers, almost half of the corps. In twelve places in South Holland, such as at the Scouting in Nootdorp and a whirlwind club in Noordwijk, there is immune gun. F-35s and Apache fighting helicopters protect the airspace, seven frigates the coast. Cyber units must prevent DDOS attacks from taking place, such as the previous NATO summit in Vilnius in Lithuanian.
A cyclist cycles along road deposits in the Statenkwartier
Photo Bart Maat
On the other hand is the typical ‘cancer’ in The Hague: should that be, in the middle of this already busy city? Those five kilometers of fences and deposits, the expected traffic nuisance, closed primary schools. The direct-people living in order to be able to be able to be able to do their house in and out of their house may not have packages or food delivered, nor a visit. Their NRC And other newspapers come, but in a special letterbox where coffee and a croissant are also ready in the morning.
In order to transport the government leaders and ministers safely to and from Schiphol, hotels and the conference location, streets and roads are closed so that the ‘bastles’ with motorcycle guidance have free job. Not only within The Hague; Rijkswaterstaat warns that the A44 and the N44 are completely closed from Sunday afternoon to Friday morning, and the A4 is also closed at set times.
And everyone predicts Chaos: PostNL warns Hagenaars by mail: “Your address is not or difficult to reach”. Hospital pharmacists provide medicines with an electric cargo bike, the court does not deal with ‘large or multi -day’ cases, the Senate has deleted the weekly plenary meeting, the central government asks to work officials at home. The municipality made the last call for everyone in the Randstad.
Why does The Hague do this to itself? And why for a top that lasts one and a half days?
Rock -hard euros
The city himself stabbed his finger when it became known that the Netherlands had to organize the NATO summit of 2025 (each Member State is once in turn). The Hague has the ambition to be an international congress city, and the city council hoped for “rock hard euros in cash registers in The Hague.”
The Hague, mayor Jan van Zanen have since repeated, it is mandatory for his status. To then refer to the Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907, which were also held in the Hofstad. To talk about the more than four hundred larger and smaller authorities in the city that are involved in international law, and the twenty thousand jobs and 2.7 billion euros that it yields.
“We are housing courts and stands, but also organizations such as Europol and Eurojust. We have been NATO City since 1954. Communication and information agency From NATO here gives work to 1,100 people, “he told local residents of the World Forum.” From our city behind the dunes, many thousands of people are working on mediation to prevent violence. On agreements between states, parties and the supervision thereof. To case law to ensure that no one is above the international legal order. ”
In twelve places in South Holland, such as at the Scouting in Nootdorp and a whirlwind club in Noordwijk, is the immune gun
And he always repeats: The Hague does this and that it is the “international city of peace and justice”.
That is not merely a marketing slogan to attract tourists, by Royal Decree, ‘Peace and Law’ is the weapon spell of The Hague. Since 2012, this spell has been under the stork with an eel in the beak and the lions that wear a shield with graven crown.
That has a long history, often referring to former mayor Wim Deetman (1996-2008). “I was approached by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was then former Secretary General of the United Nations, requesting an introductory meeting. It surprised me, I only knew him from the media and he had no knowledge of my existence,” he says. “He called The Hague” the legal capital of the world, “and I asked him about the background.”
Fences in the Scheveningen bushes, near the World Forum.
A blockade on a pedestrian path in the Scheveningen bushes.
Photos Bart Maat
“Boutros-Ghali turned out to have followed a summer course in the Peace Palace. That course is famous throughout the world, dozens of recently graduated lawyers from abroad were trained there. He knew The Hague, and he was full, despite the original hesitation of the Dutch cabinet, that the Yugoslavi tribunal had to come.” That was established in the city in 1993.
Deetman says that the tribunal strengthened the image as a city of international law. Suspects of war crimes have since been going to ‘The Hague’. Since 2002, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, in addition to the permanent court of arbitration (1913), the International Court of Appeal of the United Nations (1945) and the organization for the ban on chemical weapons (1992). Almost all countries in the world are members of those organizations.
“A discussion raged: what were we? Amsterdam had canals, Rotterdam the port. The Hague was a civil servant city, we couldn’t even say ‘capital’. But I noticed that people abroad had heard about the Peace Palace, and gradually the idea arose that we were a city of international peace and justice.” Residents could find themselves in that international, he says. Moreover, it was a slogan that was unique, not just for the Netherlands.
The former mayor refers to his successor, Jozias van Aartsen (2008-2017). He took care of the royal approval for the weapon spell ‘Peace and Law’, says Deetman. In addition, Van Aartsen gave the term load “by making municipal institutions municipal policy.
130 Nationalities
Former mayor of Aartsen is on Tuesday evening in the former Julianakerk on the border of the Schilderswijk and Transvaal. There one of the dozens of activities that The Hague is organizing this month for residents, under the motto Just Peace. Because that is also one of the reasons to organize the NATO summit: connecting Hagenaars by having them talk, by making them proud of what is happening in the city.
At ten tables, a diverse palette of Hagenaars is discussing about what peace and straightforward meaning. Social entrepreneur Atalay Celenk had wanted the government leaders to come by in this neighborhood “where 130 nationalities live together”. “People need to chat, an urge to contribute,” he says. Snacks are on the table because “eating together connects”.
Road deposits near the World Forum where the NATO summit will take place next week.
The World Forum building in The Hague, where the two-day NATO summit will take place next week.
Photos Bart Maat
There are young people like Balasz (16) and Elisa (18), who are afraid of war and found it “very instructive” to talk to. When Frank 7 is hungry, he says that he only knew one of his table companions from social media, but that they really know each other now. Conceptlessly nodded as the conclusion of another table is that “taking a first step can cause disappointment, but also something beautiful.” In Sanskrit it is said: “vasudhaiva kutumbakam“(The world is one family). Applause sounds like former senator Hanneke Gelderblom, who was hiding as a child, says:” Never give the hope that it is possible to talk to the other. ”
Van Aartsen says the next day that he thought it was a very pleasant meeting, not a nobody. ” He thinks it is important that residents also realize what all those institutions mean. The only thing he is a bit indignant about is that someone called The Hague “the fourth UN City”, after New York, Geneva and Vienna: “After the General Meeting and the Security Council, the International Court of Justice is the most important thing. We are a UN City.” Point. ”
Victory Boogie Woogie
“No peace without justice,” says Van Aartsen. When that weapon spell was devised, there was still a discussion, he says: it had to become the “international city of peace and right” or “of justice and peace.” “The first is better, also in English and French.”
As mayor, he insisted that international peace conferences were held in The Hague. Van Aartsen remembers the Afghanistan conference of 2009, also a NATO meeting. “Maastricht found himself a natural partner. I then reminded the prime minister quite a lot that these conferences in The Hague hear.”
Van Aartsen: “Someone recently spoke to me and asked,” Why should all this be here? ” I said, “Be angry with me, I am the cause of this type of conferences in the city.”
In 2014 he was the mayor during the previous Grand Top, the Nuclear Security Summitalso in the World Forum, in the presence of, among others, US President Obama. That top was also accompanied by countless road closures. The photo of the president in the Gemeentemuseum for the Victory Boogie Woogie The whole world went over from Piet Mondriaan. Such a picture is something that The Hague now hopes for.
Residential houses in the Statenkwartier district have been protected from the NATO summit.
Concrete blocks in the Statenkwartier in The Hague.
Photos Bart Maat