THE HAGUE – The Ministers Plenipotentiary of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten, Mr. Anthony Begina, Mr. Eddy Paris (interim) and Mr. René Volenius, alongside the Secretary of State for Kingdom Relations Mr. Raymond Knops, received the first copies of the book Koninkrijk op Eieren (Kingdom on Eggshells) about the 10 years since 10-10-10.
On October 10 th , 2010, the country of the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, the new countries Curaçao and Sint Maarten were formed, and Bonaire, Statia and Saba were made into special municipalities of the Netherlands. This all happened simultaneously, which made it a unique operation. Yet, has this operation brought us the benefits it was intended for? Has the functioning of the Kingdom of the Netherlands indeed improved? Have the citizens – mostly those of the Caribbean part – gained from it? And has the new situation had a beneficial effect on the atmosphere between the officials?
Fifty members of government – among them current and former prime ministers – representatives and professional followers of the Kingdom, from both ends of the ocean, answer these questions on the occasion of the 10 th anniversary of 10-10-10.
They have done so at the invitation of professor emeritus Dr. Joop van den Berg and former parliamentary reporter René Zwart, who compiled the contributions under the title Koninkrijk op Eieren. The Chair of the Committee for Kingdom Relations, professor Pieter van Vollenhoven, LL.M., wrote the preface.
Those directly involved relate how they personally experienced the process, and they set out why they still believe in the kingdom relations – whether or not they have a sense of disappointment in the result – or if, on the contrary, they feel it is time to restructure the Kingdom yet again. Of the conclusions that may be drawn after reading all the contributions, the one that springs to mind is that the people of
Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Statia and Saba deserve a better Kingdom.
More than just being a reflection on the 10 years since 10-10-10, Koninkrijk op Eieren holds a lesson that may be learned by those who have an influence on the current and future Kingdom relations.
