Island Councils of Bonaire and Sint Eustatius Hold Bilateral Consultation on Sint Eustatius
Oranjestad, Sint Eustatius — The Island Councils of Bonaire and St. Eustatius met on November 18th for a bilateral consultation on St. Eustatius. During this meeting, the delegations discussed a range of topics that are of great importance to both islands including some pending and urgent matters.
An important topic was the progress surrounding the ongoing process of the amendment of the WolBES and FinBES. Both islands exchanged experiences and views, noting the ongoing bottlenecks resulting from the outgoing State Secretary’s approach to the proposed changes.
The recently received feedback on the list of agreements of the Bilt was also discussed. The Island Councils reviewed the current agreements, discussed current progress, and identified points where further coordination or clarification is needed. To this end, concrete agreements were made on the follow up steps and the joint actions that will be taken by the islands in this regard.
The delegations spoke about their long term commitment to working together and coordinating the processes regarding a representative of the islands in the Hague as well as other topics related to the agreements list. Next steps in the change process of the WolBes/FinBes, as proposed by the outgoing State Secretary of Kingdom affairs, were also discussed.
The delegations reaffirmed their joint intention to formalize their cooperation in an agreement, outlining a clear path for its finalization and implementation in the first half of 2026. This formalized cooperation agreement is intended to structurally strengthen and enable more effective achievements of shared goals for the inhabitants of Bonaire and St. Eustatius.
The bilateral consultation was experienced as constructive and valuable. Both islands emphasized the importance of regular inter-island cooperation and look forward to the subsequent steps that will result from this. The delegations defined the actions and coordination needed to advance these efforts.