General Hillier bestowed Commander in the Order of Orange Nassau
By Rosemieke van de Meerendonk
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General Rick Hillier, Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) was bestowed the decoration of “Commander in the Order of Orange Nassau” by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.
In the presence of H.H. Prince Floris of The Netherlands and Princess Aimeé, his spouse, H.E. Karel de Beer, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Canada presented this award at a ceremony at the Department of National Defence headquarters in Ottawa.
In attendance were, Deputy Minister of National Defence, Robert Fonberg, Lieutenant-General Walt Natynczyk (CDS Designate), officials from DND and the Netherlands Embassy in Ottawa, as well as Mrs. Hillier and other close relatives.
In his speech Ambassador de Beer stressed that General Hillier has played a pivotal role in bilateral cooperation. He has been particularly instrumental in the joint International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Southern Afghanistan.
Canada and The Netherlands share a common vision and approach to peace building in the world, as demonstrated by the close cooperation in the Balkans then and in Afghanistan now. “We are partners of choice” said the Ambassador during the award ceremony, while thanking General Hillier for the many positive and creative contributions to Dutch Canadian relations, which have helped to strengthen the bonds between both countries. The decoration expresses the appreciation of the Dutch for General Hillier’s strong commitment to shared values.