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I have no pictures of NATO headquarters, since cameras are forbidden inside (one is not even allowed to take pictures of the outside of the building). But we had a terrific time there, and I particularly enjoyed my lunch with Jonathan Parish, Senior Planning Officer and Speechwriter to the Secretary General -- a former RAF Colonel.
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Koert Debeuf, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Belgium
We had a most interesting lesson in Belgian politics from Koert Deboef, a most articulate and impressive man. He gave us a quick history of Belgium, explaining the language border and the highly fractured political system. Mr. Deboef is the speechwriter to the Prime Minister, a kind of parliamentary whip, and a policy advisor -- an impressive portfolio. He is also now looking for a job, since a new government is being formed right now. |
On our last night in Brussels, we had a wonderful dinner at the home of Eleftherios Stavropoulos and his very lovely wife, Xenya. Eleftherios is First Secretary for Regional Policy and Structural Funds in the Greek Mission to the EU. The Stavropouloses invited other diplomats from Romania, Ireland, and Italy. What a treat! The warmth of their hospitality was remarkable. (See below for picture gallery.)
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Brussels, Belgium, and environs: October 6 - 10
For this portion of the fellowship, all 15 Fellows will be in Brussels together.
After tours of the city and the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren on Saturday and Sunday, we will have dinner with the US Ambassador to the European Union, Boyden Gray, at his residence.
Monday, we will go to NATO headquarters for briefings by NATO international staff and delegations. After lunch at NATO HQ, we'll head over to the EU for a briefing from Christiane Hoehn, Desk Officer of the Transatlantic Relations Unit of the EU Council. My schedule for that early evening is still pending, but at dinner that evening, the fellows will break up into groups of two or three to have dinner with former Marshall Fellows who are Members of the European Parliament (from Hungary, Poland, and Portugal), at the Restaurant Poivre & Sel (which presumably uses other spices, as well).
Tuesday, we'll begin with breakfast in the European Parliament with a number of Members of Parliament (this breakfast is cosponsored by GMF and the Transaltantic Policy Network). Then we'll have a trade briefing from an European Commission official. That afternoon, we'll have a briefing from Mrs. Pascale Charhon, Director of the European Network Against Racism (a network of European NGOs), called "Promoting Integration, Social Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination in the EU." That evening, I, along with three of my fellow fellows -- Gabriel Sandoval, Darnella Robertson, and Raj Pai -- will have dinner at the home of Eleftherios Stavropoulos, a former Marshall Fellow who is the 1st Secretary for Regional Policy and Structural Funds, in the Greek (and you thought he was Irish!) Permanent Representation to the EU.
And then Wednesday morning we split up, and I go with four others to Amsterdam...
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St. Michel Cathedral, Brussels
African Museum, Brussels
This controversial museum chronicles Belgium's colonization of the Congo.
Fellows at Lunch in Brussels
Breakfast at the European Parliament
Dinner with Diplomats in Brussels
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