Barbara Visser (born 16 August 1977) is a Dutch-Croatian politician of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD). From 31 August 2021 to 10 January 2022, she served as Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the third Rutte cabinet. She previously served as State Secretary for Defence from 26 October 2017 to 31 August 2021.

Career

Visser began her political career in 2006 as a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Zaanstad Zaanstad () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, Dutch municipality in the province of North Holland, situated northwest of Amsterdam. Its main city is Zaandam. It is part of the conurbation and Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area of ...

. In 2010, she vacated her seat to become an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

. Her portfolio included economic affairs,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

and

social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions o ...

. She was elected into the Dutch

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

in the 2012 general election. Visser left the House of Representatives on 26 October 2017, when she was appointed State Secretary for Defence in the third Rutte cabinet.

Personal life

Visser was born in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

in the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

(present-day

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) into a mixed Croatian-Dutch family. She currently lives in

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

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 ...

References

External links

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Drs. B. (Barbara) Visser
on Parlement.com 1977 births Living people Aldermen in North Holland Croatian emigrants to the Netherlands Dutch management consultants Dutch people of Croatian descent Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Ministers of infrastructure of the Netherlands Ministers of water management of the Netherlands Municipal councillors in North Holland People from Šibenik People from Zaanstad People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians State Secretaries for Defence of the Netherlands Women government ministers of the Netherlands 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch women politicians {{Netherlands-VVD-politician-stub