André Haspels (born January 23, 1962) is a Dutch diplomat currently serving as the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

since 2023. He previously served as ambassador in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and most recently as ambassador in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Personal life and education

Haspels was born in

Uithoorn Uithoorn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Uithoorn includes the town of Uithoorn and the village of De Kwakel. ''Map of the municipality of Uithoorn, Ju ...

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. His father was a flower merchant who bought flowers worldwide, including flowers from

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He completed pre-university education in 1982 and graduated from the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam with a degree in Political Science, specializing in International Relations. Haspels then joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in 1987 and followed its diplomatic service training program. Haspels is married to Bernie Grootenboer and has four children: Lora, Sabine, Quinten and Alec.

Career

Haspels joined the

in 1987, after completing the diplomatic service training program he worked as a Policy officer, at the Political and Economic Affairs Section at the embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1988 until 1990. From 1990 until 1992 he served as the Press secretary to Minister for European Affairs Piet Dankert, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague. From 1992 until 1994 he served as the Seconded National Expert (SNE) at the European Commission in Brussels, DG 23 (business policy/SMEs), following by a Secondment to the office of the Committee on International Policy/European Affairs at the House of Representatives from 1994 until 1996. From 1997 until 2005 he served as the Head of the Political Department of the Dutch Embassy in

(

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

) where he was involved in cooperation between the two countries, including in setting up the

South African Truth Commission The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa in 1996 after the end of apartheid. Authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, the commission invited witnesses w ...

. From 2000 until 2005 he was the Head of the External Affairs Division of the European Integration Department (DIE), at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2005 until 2008 Haspels served as the Dutch Ambassador to

. From 2008 until 2009 he was the Director of the Sub‑Saharan Africa Department. From 2009 until 2011 he was the Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation (Plv-DGIS). In 2011 Haspels returned to

, this time as the Dutch Ambassador to South Africa until 2014. From 2014 until 2016 he was the Deputy Director-General for Political Affairs (Plv-DGPZ) From 2016 until the summer of 2019 he was Director-General for Political Affairs, policy adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in The Hague. From September 16, 2019 until 2023, Haspels served as the Dutch Ambassador to the United States. Since September 11, 2023, Haspels serves as the Dutch Ambassador to China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haspels, André 1962 births Living people People from Uithoorn Ambassadors of the Netherlands to the United States Ambassadors of the Netherlands to South Africa Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Vietnam Ambassadors of the Netherlands to China