M

I don't have to tell my dear readers that the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs (short = M) visited Albania on his Balkan tour last Thursday and Friday, since they all read newspapers and watch the news (LOL). It was a successful meeting though, but cost us a lot of stress and work. M's schedule was very tight, so there was not much room to manoeuvre and to leave options open, all had to be arranged. The hotel, the restaurant, meetings with the opposition and civil society, the prime minister and the Albanian minister of FA, the signing of a treaty on double taxes, the transport, his security and more (in the end even his toothpaste and shaving foam as his suitcase was still in Belgrade). This not only for him, but also for his entourage: spokesperson, PA, DGPA, DGSE, DGSE/WB, Political Assistant and security. No idea if the DGs were really necessary and if they even said something, but it's procedure and protocol, so was probably useful. ;)
It was nice to organise though and M was nice as well. The thing that wasn't was the fact that you had to wear a suit all day. An sich for me not a problem as I do it often, but not in these temperatures. When we brought M to the plane, we had to wait and see if the plane really took off, before we were allowed to leave (protocol...). It was a bloody +30C on the middle of the airport with no shade at all! The drive to the airport was also nice: a long line of Mercedesses and 3 police cars up front clearing the road and stopping all other (upcoming) traffic. Nice to have witnessed such an event as well.