Anna Theodora Bernardina "Ank" Bijleveld-Schouten (born 17 March 1962) is a Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(CDA) who has been serving as acting mayor of

Almere Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprise ...

since 10 January 2022. She served as

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

in the third cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unileve ...

from 26 October 2017 to 17 September 2021. A civil servant by occupation, she served as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 16 November 1989 until 16 January 2001, when she was appointed Mayor of

Hof van Twente Hof van Twente () is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands, province Overijssel. The municipality was established 1 January 2001 as the result of the merger of the municipalities of Diepenheim, Goor, Markelo, Ambt Delden, and Stad Delden. Po ...

, serving from 1 January 2001 until 22 February 2007. She resigned after she was appointed as State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the

Fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Unio ...

, serving from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. After the election of 2010, Bijleveld returned to the

serving from 17 June 2010 until 1 January 2011 when she resigned after she was appointed as King's Commissioner of Overijssel. Following the election of 2017 Bijleveld was asked to become

in the

Third Rutte cabinet The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022 (since 15 January 2021 demissionary). It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ...

. Bijleveld accepted and resigned as King's Commissioner of Overijssel the same day she took office as the new

on 26 October 2017.

Early life and education

Bijleveld was born in the Dutch province of Overijssel. Between 1980 and 1986, she studied

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...

at the

University of Twente The University of Twente (Dutch: ''Universiteit Twente''; , abbr. ) is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. I ...

Political career

In 1986 Bijleveld became a member of the Enschede municipal council for the Christian Democratic Appeal. She served as a Member of the House of Representatives from 16 November 1989 until 16 January 2001. She was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

from 1 January 2001 until 22 February 2007, when she resigned to become the State secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the

until 14 October 2010. On 17 June 2010 she again became a member of the House of Representatives. She was an MP till 1 January 2011 when she became King's Commissioner of Overijssel.

Minister of Defence, 2017–2021

Bijleveld left that position in 2017 as she was appointed to be

. Early in her tenure, Bijleveld oversaw Dutch efforts to disrupt a 2018 attempt by Russian intelligence agents to hack the

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member ...

(OPCW). In October 2019, journalists from NRC and NOS revealed that an air raid on the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

i city Hawija in early June 2015 had been carried out by Dutch F16s. This bombing of a weapons depot resulted in 70 civilian deaths. Bijleveld's predecessor,

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert Jeanine Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert (born 7 April 1973) is a Dutch politician and diplomat serving as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq since 1 November 2018. She is a member of t ...

, was aware of this, but had incorrectly informed the House of Representatives about this. Bijleveld was criticized, because she too could have informed the House of Representatives about this earlier. For this reason

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

arian

Isabelle Diks Lillian Isabella (Isabelle) Diks (Heerlen, 25 July 1965) is a Dutch GreenLeft politician. Between 1 September 2008 and 1 January 2009 she replaced Member of Parliament Mariko Peters as member of the House of Representatives.United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Ta ...

. After inquiries from NRC and NOS, United States Central Command however confirmed that they have known this number of casualties for a while now. The fact that journalists could get this information led to a fourth debate about this bombing. In this debate, Bijleveld survived another vote of no confidence, which was supported by only 69 parliamentarians. Bijleveld resigned on 17 September 2021 after the

filed a motion of disapproval on how she and

Sigrid Kaag Sigrid Agnes Maria Kaag (; born 2 November 1961) is a Dutch diplomat and politician, serving as Minister of Finance and First Deputy Prime Minister in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. She previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 25 May 20 ...

handled the evacuation of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, even though the day before she said she wouldn't resign.

Electoral history

Personal life

Bijleveld has been married to Riekele Bijleveld since 1984 (her husband has been a member of the municipal council of

on behalf of the CDA party since 2018)www.margriet.nl
/ref> and has two daughters. She is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. A.Th.B. (Ank) Bijleveld-Schouten
Parlement.com
(acting) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bijleveld, Ank 1962 births Living people 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch Roman Catholics Female defence ministers King's and Queen's Commissioners of Overijssel Mayors in Overijssel Mayors of Almere Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Enschede Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Hof van Twente People from Kampen, Overijssel State Secretaries for the Interior of the Netherlands University of Twente alumni Women government ministers of the Netherlands Women King's and Queen's Commissioners of the Netherlands Women mayors of places in the Netherlands