Jaap de Hoop Scheffer


Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal party and jurist. He served as Secretary General of NATO from 1 August 2004 until 1 August 2009 and was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 22 June 2018.
De Hoop Scheffer attended the Ignatius Gymnasium in Amsterdam from March 1961 until April 1966 and applied at the Leiden University in June 1968 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bachelor of Laws degree in June 1970 before graduating with an Master of Laws degree in July 1974. De Hoop Scheffer was conscripted in the Royal Netherlands Air Force serving as a Second lieutenant from August 1974 until September 1976. De Hoop Scheffer worked as a civil servant for the Diplomatic service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from October 1976 until June 1986 as an Attaché in Accra, Ghana from October 1976 until April 1978 and in Brussels, Belgium from April 1978 until December 1980 and as secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs from December 1980 until June 1986.
De Hoop Scheffer was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1986, taking office on 3 June 1986 serving as a frontbencher chairing the :nl:Tweede Kamercommissie|parliamentary committee for Development Cooperation and :nl:Tweede Kamercommissie|parliamentary committee for Foreign Affairs and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, NATO, Development Cooperation and Development aid. After the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and Parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives Enneüs Heerma announced that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following increasing criticism on his leadership, the Christian Democratic Appeal leadership approached De Hoop Scheffer as a candidate to succeed him, De Hoop Scheffer accepted and became the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 27 March 1997. For the election of 1998 De Hoop Scheffer served as Lijsttrekker. The Christian Democratic Appeal suffered a loss, losing 5 seats and now had 29 seats in the House of Representatives. On 1 October 2001 De Hoop Scheffer announced that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader Leader following an internal power struggle with the Chairman of the Christian Democratic Appeal Marnix van Rij and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 2002. Following the cabinet formation of 2002 De Hoop Scheffer was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Balkenende I, taking office on 22 July 2002. The Cabinet Balkenende I fell just four months later on 16 October 2002 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. In November 2002 De Hoop Scheffer announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 2003. Following the cabinet formation of 2003 De Hoop Scheffer continued as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Balkenende II, taking office on 27 May 2003. On 22 September 2003 De Hoop Scheffer was nominated as the next Secretary General of NATO, he resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 3 December 2003 and was installed as Secretary General of NATO, serving from 1 January 2004 until 1 August 2009.
De Hoop Scheffer retired after spending 23 years in national politics and became active in the private sector and public sector and occupies numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards and serves on several :nl:Staatscommissie|state commissions and councils on behalf of the government and as an diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government and the Military industry. De Hoop Scheffer also served as a distinguished professor of International relations, Diplomatic Practice and Governmental Studies holding the Pieter Kooijmans Chair at the Leiden University from 1 September 2009 until 1 September 2014 and as a distinguished professor of International relations and Governmental Studies at the Leiden University College in The Hague since 1 September 2014.
De Hoop Scheffer is known for his abilities as a negotiator and manager. De Hoop Scheffer continues to comment on political affairs as an statesman as of and holds the distinction as the fourth longest-serving Secretary General of NATO with.

Life and career

Born in Amsterdam, De Hoop Scheffer graduated with an LL.M. degree at 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. During the first two years, he was stationed at the Dutch embassy in Ghana. Afterwards, he worked at the Dutch delegation at NATO headquarters in Brussels until 1980.
Although he had been a member of the D66 party, he became a member of the Christen-Democratisch Appèl in 1982. At the elections of 1986, he was elected to the House of Representatives. He was a spokesman on foreign policy 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.
George W. Bush during a meeting in the Oval Office in the White House on 27 October 2006.
Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the 2008 Bucharest summit in Bucharest on 4 April 2008.

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 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.

NATO Secretary General

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. As Secretary General, De Hoop Scheffer urged NATO members to contribute more to NATO operations such as the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. He "informed a NATO conference that 'NATO troops have to guard pipelines that transport oil and gas that is directed for the West,' and more generally to protect sea routes used by tankers and other 'crucial infrastructure' of the energy system".
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer attended an 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." 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." 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.
On 21 July 2009 De Hoop Scheffer suffered a heart attack. He underwent angioplasty after which he was reported to be in stable condition.
His successor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, took office on 1 August 2009.

Other activities

On 1 September 2009 De Hoop Scheffer was appointed to the Pieter Kooijmans Chair for Peace, Law and Security at Leiden University. The appointment is part-time, and the holder of this chair is appointed for a maximum of three years.
In addition, De Hoop Scheffer has held a variety of paid and unpaid positions, including:
It has been alleged by Iran that Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has met Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi while he was visiting Afghanistan in 2008 as NATO secretary general amid Iranian and some western press accusations that CIA is backing the terrorist group. This accusation was later denied by NATO.

Honours and awards