Hon. Willy Deswaef (right), President of the Belgian Consular Union, receiving the FICAC Award of Excellence from FICAC President, Honourable Arnold Foote. Also in picture is Hon. Aykut Eken, Secretary General of FICAC.
In his remarks, Hon. Willy Deswaef said:

Mister President of the European Council,
Monsieur le Ministre des Affaires Etrangères,
Excellencies,
Mister President of The World Federation of Consuls,
Madame la Présidente de la Fédération des Unions Européennes des Consuls Honoraires.
Waarde collega’s,
Mesdames et messieurs,

A marathon runner, at the finish of his marathon, once said: “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

Let me tell you that the miracle of the Belgian Consular Union is not the accomplishment of this consular association, but is that twenty years ago some honorary consuls had the inspiration and the courage to start. Twenty years later, we can be proud of what our Union has realised and it’s with emotion that I express my sincere thanks to you, colleagues and friends, participating during all these years as member and as member of the board to the realisation of the goals stated in the Statutes of our association.

The greatest achievement is certainly that the Union brought the Belgian honorary consuls together during so many meetings and exotic travels and that many friendships arise between them. Believe me, when I look around this evening in this marvellous Salle des Miroirs I see more than only colleagues, I see a lot of close friends.

The relationship between our Union with the diplomacy and the successive Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Chiefs of Protocol improved constantly and the very appreciated presence of Minister Didier Reynders and Ambassador Chief of Protocol Pierre Labouverie is the evidence of this excellent relationship.

The participation to the boards of the World Federation of Consuls and of the European Federation of some of our members has always been remarkable and I take this opportunity to thank Mr Arnold Foote, certainly the most dynamic President ever of the World Federation of Consuls and Mrs Ann-Katrin Bauknecht, President of the Fédération des Unions Européennes des Consuls Honoraires for their very appreciated presence at the twentieth anniversary of our Union.

President Kennedy once said: “Some men see things as they are and ask why, I dream things that never were and ask why not?” The founders of the Belgian Consular Union had certainly that kind of dream.

Personally, I still dream a world that stops to consider the honorary consul as a priviledged citizen but as a responsible person being from early in the morning till late in the evening constantly in standby in order to help and support the citizens of his Sending State.

I dream a diplomatic world who stops to look at the honorary consul as a weak diplomatic link but as titled with a new and essential responsibility in this globalised world where economic targets seem to have priority.Hon. Willy Deswaef (left) being congratulated by the Vice Prime Minister of Belgium, H.E. Didiers Reynders.In a world where popes, presidents and even CEOs are often elected when they since long have reached the age of pension, your president, my good friends, dreams a diplomatic world that doesn’t chase the honorary consul blindly at his seventieth anniversary when he has the experience and the efficiency to give of one’s best in the accomplishment of his consular mandate.

At the end of my short intervention, I want to express again my deep gratitude

– to you, dear friends, who have made the successes of our Union possible,

– to all the colleagues coming from all over the world in order to celebrate with us,

– to the members of the board of the Belgian Consular Union who worked very hard during many months in order to organize this successful Gala,

-to the President of the European Council, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy giving a part of his overloaded agenda to be this evening with us at this marvellous Palais d’Egmont

– and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Didier Reynders accepting our invitation to join his previous colleagues and take the floor.

I am delighted to hand over to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Didier Reynders.