Eimert van Middelkoop

Eimert van Middelkoop (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɛimərt fɑˈmɪdəlkoːp];[1] born 14 February 1949) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Union (CU) party and teacher. He is the chairman of the Institute for Multiparty Democracy since 20 January 2018.

Eimert van Middelkoop
Eimert van Middelkoop in 2007
Minister for Housing,
Communities and Integration
In office
23 February 2010 – 14 October 2010
Prime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende
Preceded byEberhard van der Laan
Succeeded byOffice discontinued
Minister of Defence
In office
22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010
Prime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende
Preceded byHenk Kamp
Succeeded byHans Hillen
Member of the Senate
In office
10 June 2003 – 22 February 2007
Parliamentary groupChristian Union
Leader of the Reformed
Political League
In office
14 February 2001 – 13 March 2001
Preceded byGert Schutte
Succeeded byOffice discontinued
Parliamentary leader in the
House of Representatives
In office
14 February 2001 – 13 March 2001
Preceded byGert Schutte
Succeeded byOffice discontinued
Parliamentary groupReformed Political League
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
14 May 1989 – 23 May 2002
Parliamentary groupReformed Political League
Personal details
Born
Eimert van Middelkoop

(1949-02-14) 14 February 1949
Berkel en Rodenrijs, Netherlands
Political partyChristian Union (from 2002)
Other political
affiliations		Reformed Political League
(1973–2002)
Children3 sons and 1 daughter
Residence(s)Berkel en Rodenrijs, Netherlands
Alma materErasmus University Rotterdam
(Bachelor of Social Science)
OccupationPolitician · Civil servant · Political consultant · Nonprofit director · Teacher

Early life

After high school, van Middelkoop attended what is now Erasmus University, earning a B.A. in Sociology in 1971. In 1971 and 1972, he was a teacher at the Reformed Social Academy in Zwolle. He was exempt from military draft for being indispensable as staff member of the Reformed Political League in the House of Representatives.[2]

Politics

Van Middelkoop became a member of the House of Representatives in 1989, while affiliated with the Reformed Political League. Since 2000, he has been aligned with the ChristianUnion (ChristenUnie), which was the product of a fusion of the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF) and the Reformatory Political Federation (GPV). He specialised in foreign and military affairs, prepared the inquiry by the House of Representatives into the role of the Netherlands in the fall of Srebrenica. He lost his seat in the House of Representatives in the 2002 elections.

From 2003 until 2007, van Middelkoop was a member of the Senate of the Netherlands. In the 2006 elections, the ChristianUnion party doubled its seats and joined the fourth Balkenende cabinet. Van Middelkoop became Minister of Defence in 2007.

In September 2008, he told the Dutch opinion magazine, Vrij Nederland, 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.[3][4]

Decorations
Honours
Ribbon barHonourCountryDateComment
Ghazi Mir Bacha Khan Medal Afghanistan 2010
Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands 3 December 2010 Elevated from Knight (23 May 2002)

References
  1. In isolation, van is pronounced [vɑn].
  2. Van Middelkoop biography, House of Representatives (in Dutch)
  3. "Van Middelkoop was blij dat hij niet in dienst hoefde" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  4. "Van Middelkoop moet praten met militaire vakbonden" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
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