18 May- Zenel Hajdini school in Gjilan

“To make a long story short – the future of Kosovo is in the EU”

The EU is like a club and members of a club have to accept certain rules and standards that make them part of that club but membership brings also along certain responsibilities but also privileges, explained Henk Voskamp, Ambassador of The Netherlands in Kosovo. “The EU gives advantages that you do not read about in the newspapers but you feel for yourself you can travel without passport all over Europe, study everywhere in Europe and open a business anywhere in the EU. There are real tangible signs of these joint rules, one of them you have in your pocket: our joint currency, the Euro”. Meeting all these standards and rules of the club means a lot of work, and it has taken countries over 10 to 15 years to meet these standards. It will mean also a lot of work for Kosovo but the EU is sure that the future of Kosovo is in the EU and we are here to help you to achieve this goal.

Mr Voskamp gave an insight in the origins of that club: “I am from a small country, just like Kosovo. The Netherlands is in between Germany and France, two countries that have been waging warfare against each other for over 1000 years”, Henk Voskamp started his lecture to the pupils of the Gjilan high school. Then Robert Schuman, the then French Foreign Minister on 9 May in 1950 had an idea to start a club with joint rights and responsibilities that would made warfare in the future of these countries impossible. The first members of the club were Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.  And it has worked, so today there is one important difference between you and me, you have memories of a war – I have not experienced a war in my entire life and this is thanks to the fact that the Netherlands are part of this club. The idea of Schuman has brought peace to that region of Europe and this is why we celebrate Europe Day on the 9^th of May.