Eimert van Middelkoop (; born 14 February 1949) is a retired

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politician of the Christian Union (CU) party and teacher. He is the chairman of the Institute for Multiparty Democracy since 20 January 2018.

Early life

After high school, van Middelkoop attended what is now

Erasmus University Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public university, public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christia ...

, earning a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

in 1971. In 1971 and 1972, he was a teacher at the Reformed Social Academy in

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. He was exempt from

military draft Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

for being indispensable as staff member of the

Reformed Political League The Reformed Political LeagueTranslation used by Rudy Andeweg, Andeweg and Irwin in ''Governance and Politics of the Netherlands'' (2002: 45) (, GPV) was an orthodox Protestant list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the ...

in the

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 ...

.Van Middelkoop biography

(in Dutch)

Politics

Van Middelkoop became a member of the

in 1989, while affiliated with the

. Since 2000, he has been aligned with the Christian Union, which was the product of a fusion of the

Reformatory Political Federation The Reformatory Political Federation (; RPF) was a minor Protestant Christian democracy, Christian political party in the Netherlands. History The RPF was founded on 15 March 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians. The first group were mem ...

(RPF) and the

(GPV). He specialised in foreign and military affairs, prepared the inquiry by the House of Representatives into the role 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 fall of Srebrenica. He lost his seat in the House of Representatives in the 2002 election. From 2003 until 2007, van Middelkoop was a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. In the 2006 elections, the Christian Union party doubled its seats and joined the

fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The Cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was formed by ...

. Van Middelkoop became

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in 2007. In September 2008, he told the Dutch opinion magazine, ''

Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly turned monthly magazin ...

'', that he would have been very unhappy to have joined the army. Because of this and other remarks, he received criticism from military labour unions, who said that Van Middelkoop had lost his credibility.

Decorations

Notes

References

External links

;Official
E. (Eimert) van Middelkoop
Parlement & Politiek
E. van Middelkoop (ChristenUnie)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Middelkoop, Eimert van 1949 births Living people Christian Union (Netherlands) politicians Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch political consultants Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of defence of the Netherlands Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Lansingerland Reformed Churches (Liberated) Christians from the Netherlands Reformed Political League politicians 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch educators Recipients of the Ghazi Mir Bacha Khan Medal