Willem Werner Hubert "Willy" Claes (; born 24 November 1938) is a Belgian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the eighth Secretary General of NATO, from 1994 to 1995. Claes was forced to resign from his NATO position after he was found guilty of corruption, which was uncovered during the investigation into André Cools' death. Claes was a member of the Flemish Socialist Party. Claes was born in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

, Belgium. He graduated in political and diplomatic sciences at the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

(VUB).

Political career

Claes began his political career in the Hasselt city council. In 1968, he was elected to the

national parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In 1972, he entered the cabinet for the first time as minister of education. Between 1973 and 1992, he was minister of economic affairs of Belgium three separate times. He also served as deputy prime minister five times, and was an important negotiator in the formation of coalition governments during the 1980s. Claes was

Minister 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 foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1992 until 1994 in the Government Jean-Luc Dehaene I, during which period he presided over Belgium's withdrawal from the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda during the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

. Belgium's withdrawal and the subsequent proposal by Claes of the withdrawal at the UN of all UN-Troops is thought to have dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, leading to thousands of deaths. Claes was also Secretary General of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

from 1994 until 1995, when he resigned after the discovery of a bribe of over 50 million

Belgian franc The Belgian franc was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the euro was introduced. It was subdivided into 100 subunits, each known as a in Dutch, or in French and German. History The ''gulden'' (guilder) of 20 ''st ...

s (BEF), accepted at the time he was minister of economic affairs and connected to the defence contract negotiations with Agusta and Dassault. A criminal trial was handled by the Court of Cassation, which is responsible for cases involving minister in function. Claes received a 60 000 BEF fine, a three-year probationary sentence and a five-year prohibition on running for public office. An appeal at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

resulted in the confirmation of the Belgian sentence.

Musical career

Claes is known for being a pianist and has frequently performed concerts. Even as secretary-general of NATO, he had a piano in his residence to keep in practice.

Honours

* Minister of State * Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Leopold II The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgiu ...

References

External links

NATO Declassified – Willy Claes (biography)
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Claes, Willy 1938 births Belgian male musicians Belgian male conductors (music) Belgian classical pianists 20th-century Belgian pianists 21st-century Belgian pianists Deputy prime ministers of Belgium Ministers of state of Belgium Belgian Socialist Party politicians Belgian socialists Foreign ministers of Belgium Academic staff of the Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) Living people Presidents of the Party of European Socialists Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II People from Hasselt Secretaries general of NATO Vooruit (political party) politicians 21st-century Belgian conductors (music) 21st-century Belgian male musicians