Johannes Cornelis "Hans" van Baalen (17 June 1960 – 29 April 2021) was a Dutch 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) who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

and

Leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

of the

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 2009 until 2019. He also was President of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 76 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal Interna ...

from 21 November 2015 until his death. Van Baalen, a

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

by occupation, worked for

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

as Director of

Public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

from his graduation in 1988 until 1999. He became a Member of the House of Representatives on 28 September 1999 serving until 23 May 2002. After the Dutch general election of 2003 he was re-elected as Member of the House of Representatives serving from 30 January 2003 until 14 July 2009 when he became

. Van Baalen served as President of the Liberal International from 20 April 2009 until 26 April 2014.

Early life and education

Johannes Cornelis van Baalen was born on 17 June 1960 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in the Netherlands.Mr.Drs. J.C. (Hans) van Baalen
Parlement & Politiek. Retrieved 30 September 2015. He went to a public primary school in his hometown Krimpen aan den IJssel and to the

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Krimpenerwaard College in the same town, where he followed the havo (1973–1977) and atheneum (1977–1979) programs. He studied Dutch law (1979–1986), and international law (1986–1988) at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. During these student years, he was a member of the Minerva fraternity and the 'Pro Patria' student guard.

Political career

Van Baalen was a member of the VVD since 1986. He was international secretary for the VVD party bureau from 1993 to 1998, and was an MP from 1999 until 2002. He was again made an MP in 2003. Before his political career he worked as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and also with the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

department of

Deloitte Consulting Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wit ...

. In 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 ...

, van Baalen was a member of the Foreign Affairs commission, European Affairs commission and the Defense commission. Beginning with the 2009 European elections, van Baalen was a member of European Parliament and faction leader of the Dutch VVD Delegation, and was generally seen as one of the most influential figures within the party. He served as a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its

Subcommittee on Security and Defence The Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. It is responsible for European security and defence policy, including institutions, capabilities and operations, as we ...

from 2009. On both committees, he was his parliamentary group’s coordinator. As substitute, he also served on the

Committee on International Trade The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Bernd Lange.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 ...

. He was previously a member of the delegations with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

(2010-2014), 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 ...

(2010-2014) and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(2009-2014). In July 2018, van Baalen announced that he would not stand in the 2019 European elections but instead resign by the end of the parliamentary term. On 11 January 2021, the Dutch government appointed van Baalen as a member of the ‘Eminent Persons Group on the European Economy’ which advises Dutch politics on the EU economy, budgetary, fiscal & monetary policy. On 19 March 2021, the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, agreed to nominate van Baalen for an appointment as a member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV).

Political positions

Relations with Russia and Ukraine

Van Baalen was a member of the European Parliament’s monitoring mission during the Ukrainian parliamentary elections in 2014, led by

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician serving as the Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minister of Croatia since October 2016. He was previously one of eleven List of members of the European Parliament for Croatia, 201 ...

. With regard to the conflict with Russia over Ukraine, he argued for higher military spending and NATO involvement, and improved prospects for Ukraine to join the EU if its population so decided. In 2015, news media reported that van Baalen was included in a Russian blacklist of prominent people from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

who are not allowed to enter the country. In 2016 he received the Ukrainian

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

Third Class, bestowed upon him by president

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

Car industry

Van Baalen worked until September 2015 as a lobbyist for the motoring organisation ''RAI'' and was on the supervisory board of

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

. Van Baalen reported those positions to the European Parliament and indicated he refrained from involvement in car-related parliamentary business. In 2014 however, van Baalen, in his capacity as member of European parliament called for standardized rules for the car industry in the European Union and the United States.

Distinctions

Order of Merit (Ukraine) The Order of Merit () (Distinguished service) first, second or third class, is the Ukrainian order of merit, given to individuals for outstanding achievements in economics, science, culture, military or political spheres of activity. It was firs ...

, Third Class. * Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Knight

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

References

External links

;Official *
Mr.Drs. J.C. (Hans) van Baalen
Parlement.com *

Europees Parlement , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Baalen, Hans van 1960 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Dutch journalists 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch jurists Dutch colonels Dutch corporate directors Dutch lobbyists Dutch management consultants Dutch political consultants Dutch public relations people European Union lobbyists Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Leiden University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Dutch MPs 2006–2010 MEPs for the Netherlands 2009–2014 MEPs for the Netherlands 2014–2019 People from Krimpen aan den IJssel Politicians from Rotterdam People's Party for Freedom and Democracy MEPs People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Presidents of the Liberal International Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Royal Netherlands Army officers Military personnel from Rotterdam