Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Secretary General of NATO
Incumbent
Assumed office  5 January 2004
Preceded by	George Robertson
Succeeded by	Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Designate)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
In office 22 July 2002 – 3 December 2003
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Jozias van Aartsen
Succeeded by	Ben Bot
Born	3 April 1948 (1948-04-03) (age 61) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Birth name	Jakob Gijsbert de Hoop Scheffer
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse	Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer
Residence	Brussel, Belgium
Alma mater	Leiden University
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	www.nato.int

Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer ( /jɑːp də hoːp ˈsxɛfər/ (help·info), born 3 April 1948) is a Dutch politician and the current NATO Secretary General. De Hoop Scheffer served as the Dutch foreign minister, and was an important figure in the Dutch decision to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2004, Hoop was chosen as the 11th NATO Secretary General.

[edit] Life and career

Born in Amsterdam, De Hoop Scheffer graduated with an LLM from Leiden University in 1974. After completing military service in the air force, where he became a reserve officer, he worked for the ministry of foreign affairs from 1976 to 1986. For the first two years, he was stationed at the Dutch embassy in Ghana. After that, he worked at the Dutch delegation at NATO headquarters in Brussels until 1980.

Although he has been a member of the D66 party, he became a member of the Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA) in 1982. At the elections of 1986, he was elected to the House of Representatives. He was a spokesman on foreign affairs for his party. Between 1997 and 2001, he was the leader of the CDA delegation in the House of Representatives, at a time when the CDA was in opposition. This made him the party leader.

When the list of candidates for the 2002 elections was chosen, his position as the party leader of the CDA became uncertain. After a power struggle with the party chairman Van Rij, De Hoop Scheffer resigned as party leader. Jan Peter Balkenende succeeded him, and had the top spot on the CDA list of candidates in the elections on 15 May 2002.

[edit] Foreign Minister

The CDA won in those elections and played the leading role in the formation of a new coalition government. The new prime minister Balkenende appointed De Hoop Scheffer as foreign minister in his short-lived first cabinet, a position he retained in the second Balkenende cabinet after the elections of 22 January 2003. In 2003, the foreign policy of the Netherlands was largely determined by De Hoop Scheffer and Balkenende. Its main foreign policy decision was to contribute to Operation Iraqi Freedom, although its formulation ("political" but not "military" support) gave it an ambivalent character. However, 1,100 Dutch servicemen were deployed as part of the Stabilisation Force Iraq in the southern province of Al Muthanna from 2003 till 2005, and two of them were killed in action.

In 2003 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was also the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

[edit] NATO Secretary General

From left to right. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and wife Jeannine visiting Laura and George W. Bush at the Bush Ranch in Texas in 2007.

He became the 11th NATO Secretary General on 5 January 2004, succeeding Lord Robertson, who held the post from 1999 until 2003. The announcement was made on 22 September 2003.^[1] As Secretary General, De Hoop Scheffer urged NATO members to contribute more to NATO operations such as the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.^[2]

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer attended the economic conference in Montreal, Canada on 21 June 2007, where he encouraged Canada to continue its military mission in Afghanistan past its 2009 withdrawal date. He said, "I think more time is necessary to create those conditions for reconstruction and development to go on."^[3] His visit coincided with the death of three more Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. "I know how dramatic it is if Canadian soldiers pay the highest price, but I still say, you are there for a good cause."^[4] De Hoop Scheffer's comments were made as the Canadian government was under pressure by opposition politicians to define the length of Canada's commitment to the mission in Afghanistan.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

• Biography - NATO website
• Appointment as Secretary General - NATO announcement
• Profile of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer - by journalist Robert van de Roer, NATO website

v • d • e Dutch Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) van Hogendorp | van Nagell van Ampsen | Reinhold | van Reede | de Coninck | van Soelen | van Zuylen van Nijevelt | van Kattendijke | Schimmelpenninck van der Oye | de la Sarraz | van Randwijck | Schimmelpenninck | van Nijenhuis | Lightenvelt | van Sonsbeeck | van Zuylen van Nijevelt | van Hall | van Endegeest | van Goltstein | van Hall | van Zuylen van Nijevelt | van der Goes van Dirxland | van Nijevelt | Strens | Stratenus | van der Maesen de Sombreff | van Kattendijke | Cremers | van Zuylen van Nijevelt | van Mulken | van Limburg | van Mulken | van Herwijnen | van der Does de Willebois | van Heeckeren van Kell | van Lynden van Sandenburg | Rochussen | de Willebois | van Bellinchave | van Karnebeek | Hartsen | van Tienhoven | Jansen | Röell | de Beaufort | van Lynden | Ellis | van Weede van Berencamp | Ellis | van Tets van Goudriaan | van Swinderen | Cort van der Linden | Loudon | van Karnebeek | van Blokland | Ruijs de Beerenbrouck | de Graeff | Colijn | Patijn | van Kleffens | van Roijen | van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout | Stikker | Beyen | Luns | Schmelzer | van der Stoel | van der Klaauw | van der Stoel | van Agt | van den Broek | Kooijmans | van Mierlo | van Aartsen | de Hoop Scheffer | Bot | Verhagen