Certificate of Commendation to Ms. Vermeiren for her 20 years of working at the Mission of Japan to the EU
January 2012
The Mission of Japan to the EU would like to congratulate Kristien Vermeiren on her 20th year of working at the Mission. In honour of her dedication and service a small reception was hosted by Ambassador Shiojiri and attended by staff of the Mission. As a token of the appreciation, Kristien was awarded a Certificate of Commendation by Ambassador Shiojiri on behalf of Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba.
In presenting her with the certificate Ambassador Shiojiri complimented her diligence and devotion to the Mission and praised herdeserved recognition by the Mission and the MOFA.
On accepting the commendation she described the Mission as one large family, working together in a cooperative environment. Reflecting on her time here, Kristien recounted that during one point of her career she considered a change for herself and made a list of positive and negative things about her position and working life. “When I was finished, the positive list was much longer, so I decided to stay”, she added. Her advice for all is “to learn from each other and when you face some problems, try to communicate”. In concluding her message for all at the Mission was to simply be “happy and healthy”.
After the reception Kristien remarked on the changes of the last 20 years, “The Mission has become much bigger and many more people, diplomats and local staff, now work here. The size has grown as the EU has too”. When asked what are the major changes in the relationship between Japan and the EU since her arrival she noted that “years ago diplomats would less often visit the Commission, now they are visiting on a daily basis.” She added “there are now more occasions for more high ranking Japanese officials to attend meetings or conferences with EU officials in Brussels”.
Kristien noted the nature of her work, the ability to interact with the Commission and the friendly and international working environment as the main reasons for working at the Mission over the last two decades. Finally, when asked if she would like to visit Japan one day, she said “not right now as my children are my priority, but I would like to especially try to discover the more secluded areas of the Japanese countryside”.
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