The Netherlands: Almelo man gets Russian award for letter to Putin

[Palinurus]

Source: Almelo man gets Russian award for letter to Putin

Almelo man gets Russian award for letter to Putin

By Janene Pieters on August 16, 2019 - 12:40

Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands Alexander Shulgin and Albert Gietelink
© Vitaly Chugin/TASS


Albert Gietelink, a 92-year-old man from Almelo, received an award at the Russian embassy in The Hague this week because of a letter he wrote to Russian president Vladimir Putin a few months ago. He wrote the letter because he wants the relationship between Russia and the West to improve. "It is actually sad that 74 years after defeating Nazi Germany we still have a hostile relationship with Russia", he said after receiving his award on Wednesday, RTV Oost reports [in Dutch].

Gietelink sent the letter to the Kremlin, not thinking that anything would come of it. But to his surprise, the Russian embassy contacted him a few months later. A diplomat went to meet Gietelink in Almelo and told him that Russia wanted to distinguish him. The Almelo man traveled to the Russian embassy in The Hague with a group of 15 people on Wednesday. "What I found special was that we were not searched", he said afterwards. "They probably assumed we would do nothing because we stand for peace."

The award was pinned to the Almelo man by the Russian ambassador, who spoke to Gietelink in English. Gietelink doesn't know what the award is called. "Stupid, I should have asked that. It's all in Russian characters, so I can't read it", he said, according to the broadcaster.

The Russian ambassador told Russian press agency TASS [in Russian] that Gietelink received the award "for his contribution to the development of friendly relationships". According to the ambassador, Gietelink is the first Dutch person to receive such an award.

Similar coverage (YT video 3:47 [in Dutch] included in which Gietelink reads aloud the text of his letter to Putin):
Dutch peace campaigner, 92, writes to Putin, gets Russian award - DutchNews.nl

 

[Oxajil]

Lovely news item

 

[Palinurus]

It's on SOTT now, with the video and an English translation of his letter in a comment:

Dutch Peace Campaigner, 92, Gets Russian Award For Letter to Putin -- Sott.net

Dear partner in misfortune, as a 91-year-old European with only a few years to go, I look sadly upon the world today. And you likely feel the same way too. More than 73 years after the terrible war against Nazi Germany, the victors of that time find themselves in a Cold War. Russia played the leading role in that victory. In 1987, the Presidents of Russia and the USA signed the INF peace treaty. In a sense, that meant the end of the Cold War. As a result, those cruise missiles were not placed here. If President Trump's intention to denounce this treaty continues, a new arms race will arise. This is at the expense of better spending for our fellow citizens. And it increases the risk of a military confrontation with catastrophic consequences. Hence my sadness about the world in which you and I live.

Russian culture is a part of the European culture. Considering, for example, literature, music and the visual arts. Last summer, the country opened itself hospitably to foreigners at the World Cup for soccer without any problems. You have overcome the chaos in Russia caused by your predecessor. That has given you great popularity among your countrymen. You are now one of the few powerful people on Earth. This also makes it possible for you to make unpopular concessions in finding compromises on issues with the European Union and NATO. In doing so, you would historically serve peace and well-being to the citizens of Europe. The word Mir in your first name makes me hopeful. I wish you the best of luck and Mir in the new year. Warm regards, Albert Gietelink