Month: July 2018

Monaco’s Ambassador to Spain, Jean-Luc Van Klaveren, took the opportunity of the reception offered to celebrate the anniversary of the enthronement of Prince Albert II to emphasise the commitment of the Principality to the preservation of the marine environment.

“The preservation of marine ecosystems has been part of our history since 1911, when Prince Albert I created the Oceanographic Institute,” thediplomatinspain.com webste reported the ambassador as saying.

Toasting the close ties between Monaco and Spain and their respective royal families, Mr Van Klaveren announced that, as of 2020, Monaco will forbid kitchen utensils made of plastic, as it did on January 1, 2017, with plastic bags.

He added out that Monaco – whose sovereign waters are 36 times more extensive than its territory and whose coast has two protected areas – “always looks to the sea as part of its historical and cultural tradition”.

Monaco has been cited as having the most expensive overnight stays for uninsured foreign patients. A study carried out by finder.com put the Principality at the top of the list, with an overnight stay costing 2,924 euros per night – almost seven times the price of a five-star hotel in Monaco, which is 436 euros per night on average.

The personal finance website also claimed that a hospital bed in Norway costs 1,140 euros, while an overnight hospital stay costs 1,062 euros in Qatar.

Jon Ostler, UK CEO at finder.com, said: “An uninsured stay in a foreign hospital can have a financial impact that could take years to recover from.”

On top of the accommodation bill, medicine and specialist treatment must also be considered.

Prince Albert II of Monaco visited Cape Cod this week, touring the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, capecod.com reports.

The Sovereign Prince sailed on the MBL’s research vessel, The Gemma, viewed thousands of cephalopods and other marine species in its Marine Resources Centre, and received a comprehensive overview of the marine and environmental research carried out by the MBL.

MBL complements the mission of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, which the Prince founded in 2006 to take direct action for the protection of nature, especially the marine environment.

“Our oceans are greatly under threat, despite their size and their vital contributions to humanity,” Prince Albert II said during his visit to the MBL.

His foundation is making a commitment to funding the SeaBase at MBL, an open-access infrastructure for integrated data on marine organisms, their genomes and the environmental status of their habitats, the local news service said.

“This is the central issue of our time, an issue that is urgent and at the same time eternal, an issue for today and for future generations,” he said.

Patrice Cellario, Minister of the Interior, accompanied by Isabelle Bonnal, Director of National Education, Youth and Sports, and Principals of Principality High Schools, received the 69 students who earned a special mention of ‘Very Good in the 2018 Baccalaureate.

The students gathered for the occasion on Tuesday, July 10, on the roof terrace of the Technical and Hotel High School, where the Minister, on behalf of the Government, congratulated the laureates for their brilliant success and praised the work of the educational community in the Principality in helping the students gain such outstanding results.

Mr Cellario emphasised the priority given by the Prince’s Government to education and the desire to leave no student by the wayside.

The Monaco Embassy in Germany held its traditional reception in honour of the Advent of HSH Prince Albert II. More than 200 guests gathered at a cocktail party in the splendid Patrick Hellmann Schlosshotel to celebrate the anniversary.

Among the guests invited were the Chief of Protocol of the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Apostolic Nuncio, the Mayor of the city of Gotha, a city in central Germany which HSH The Prince visited in 2016, the Director of the Deutsche Meeresstiftung, members of the International German Club of Monaco, the Consuls of Monaco in Germany, the Consul of Monaco in Poland, and many foreign Ambassadors in the German capital.

In her speech, HE Ms Isabelle Berro-Amadei, Monaco’s Ambassador to Germany, addressed issues that are essential for the Principality. She spoke of Monaco’s constant efforts in the environmental sphere, particularly under the leadership and personal commitment of the Sovereign Prince himself.

She also mentioned the Mission for Energy Transition; the extension into the sea, and also Monaco’s digital transition, highlighting the MonacoTech incubator and the development of a smart city in Monaco.