Willem Frederik "Wim" van Eekelen (born 5 February 1931) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat, and political scientist.

Early life and education

Van Eekelen attended a Gymnasium in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

from June 1943 until June 1949 and applied at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

in June 1949 majoring in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree in July 1951. Van Eekelen attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and graduated in 1952 with an A.B. in politics after completing a senior thesis titled " The Marshall Plan and Its Significance for the Netherlands." Van Eekelen graduated with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree from the University of Utrecht in November 1954. Van Eekelen was

conscripted 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 ...

in the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing a ...

serving in the cavalry Regiment Huzaren van Boreel as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

from July 1956 until August 1957. Van Eekelen worked as a civil servant for 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 ...

from September 1957 until June 1977 for the

Diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

from September 1957 until May 1974 as an

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

from September 1957 until January 1960 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from January 1960 until February 1964. Van Eekelen later returned to the Utrecht University in February 1964 for another postgraduate education where he worked as a researcher and got a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

as a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in political science on 18 November 1964.

Career

Van Eekelen worked as Attaché in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

from November 1964 until October 1966 and as a senior attaché for the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to 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 ...

from October 1966 until May 1971 and as a

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

for the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

from May 1971 until August 1974. Van Eekelen worked as Director-General for the department of Atlantic Cooperation and Security Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from August 1974 until June 1977. Van Eekelen was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1977, taking office on 8 June 1977. Following the cabinet formation of 1977 Van Eekelen was appointed as State Secretary for Defence in the Cabinet Van Agt–Wiegel, taking office on 20 January 1978. After the election of 1981 Van Eekelen returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 25 August 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt–Wiegel was replaced by the Cabinet Van Agt II following the cabinet formation of 1981 on 11 September 1981. After the election of 1982 Van Eekelen was appointed State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Lubbers I, taking office on 5 November 1982. After the election of 1986 Van Eekelen once again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 3 June 1986. Following the cabinet formation of 1986 Van Eekelen was appointed as

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 the Cabinet Lubbers II, taking office on 14 July 1986. On 6 September 1988 Van Eekelen resigned following the conclusions of a parliamentary inquiry report into a

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

fraud investigation that was mishandled by him during the time he serves as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the previous cabinet, his successor as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs René van der Linden subsequently resigned on 9 September 1988. Van Eekelen remained active in national politics, in April 1989 he was nominated as Secretary General of the Western European Union, serving from 15 May 1989 until 15 November 1994. Van Eekelen was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1995, taking office on 13 June 1995 serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

chairing several Senate election of 2003 and continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 10 June 2003.

After retirement

Van Eekelen retired after spending 26 years in national politics and became active in the private sector and public sector and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, Institute for Multiparty Democracy, Achmea, Netherlands Atlantic Association, Transnational Institute, Carnegie Foundation and the Institute of International Relations Clingendael) and served as a diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government and as an advocate and lobbyist for

Democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

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 ...

and

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

. Van Eekelen is known for his abilities as a negotiator and consensus builder. Van Eekelen continues to comment on political affairs as of and holds the distinction as the only Dutchman that served as Secretary General of the Western European Union.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. W.F. (Wim) van Eekelen
Parlement & Politiek *
Dr. W.F. van Eekelen (VVD)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Eekelen, Wim van 1931 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania Dutch corporate directors Dutch democracy activists Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch expatriates in England Dutch expatriates in India Dutch expatriates in Ghana Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch political consultants Dutch political scientists European Union lobbyists Foreign policy writers Geopoliticians Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Officers of the Order of Leopold II Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of defence of the Netherlands Politicians from Utrecht (city) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Political realists Princeton University alumni Royal Netherlands Army officers State secretaries for defence of the Netherlands State secretaries for foreign affairs of the Netherlands Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Utrecht University Western European Union people 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch diplomats 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch politicians