Max van der Stoel

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Max van der Stoel, KCMG (born August 3, 1924 in Voorschoten) is a Dutch politician and former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also known as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

[edit] Career

Van der Stoel studied law at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden. From 1953 to 1958 he worked for the Wiardi Beckmanstichting, the scientific bureau of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) and become international secretary for the PvdA in 1963. From 1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1982 he served as the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He was appointed as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in December 1992 and took up his functions in January 1993. He remained in office until 2000.

In that capacity he was able to intervene, in 1993, in the fragile new state of Estonia. The nationalist government had introduced measures disenfranchising a large part of the sizeable Russian minority. This in turn led the government of neighbouring Russia cut off gas supplies and to threaten to intervene, if necessary, to protect ethnic Russians.

Responding quickly, at the invitation of the Estonian government, the High Commissioner shuttled between both sides, securing agreements that removed a great deal of the tension and preserved Estonia's territorial integrity. The Economist noted that "Mr Van Der Stoel achieved something remarkable... a modicum of trust between would-be warring parties." It has been argued by peace-making bodies such as the Oxford Research Group that the situation could, without Van Der Stoel's personal involvement, have developed into something like the catastrophic collapse of the former Yugoslavia.

[edit] References

v • d • e Dutch Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Ministry)

Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp \| Anne Willem Carel van Nagell van Ampsen \| Johann Gotthard Reinhold \| Willem Frederik van Reede \| Patrice Claude Ghislain de Coninck \| Johan Gijsbert Verstolk van Soelen \| Hugo van Zuylen van Nijevelt \| Jan Willem Huyssen van Kattendijke \| Willem Anne Schimmelpenninck van der Oye \| James Albert Henry de la Sarraz \| Lodewijk Napoleon van Randwijck \| Gerrit Schimmelpenninck \| Arnold Adolf Bentinck van Nijenhuis \| Leonardus Antonius Lightenvelt \| Herman van Sonsbeeck \| Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt \| Floris Adriaan van Hall \| Daniël Théodore Gevers van Endegeest \| Jan Karel van Goltstein \| Floris Adriaan van Hall \| Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt \| Louis Napoleon van der Goes van Dirxland \| Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt \| Martin Pascal Hubert Strens \| Anthony Jan Lucas Stratenus \| Paul Therèse van der Maesen de Sombreff \| Willem Johan Cornelis Huyssen van Kattendijke \| Eppo Cremers \| Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt \| Joannes Josephus van Mulken \| Theodorus Marinus Roest van Limburg \| Joannes Josephus van Mulken \| Louis Gericke van Herwijnen \| Joseph van der Does de Willebois \| Willem van Heeckeren van Kell \| Constantijn Theodoor van Lynden van Sandenburg \| Willem Frederik Rochussen \| Joseph van der Does de Willebois \| Marc Willem du Tour van Bellinchave \| Abraham Pieter Cornelis van Karnebeek \| Cornelis Hartsen \| Gijsbert van Tienhoven \| Joannes Coenraad Jansen \| Joan Röell \| Willem Hendrik de Beaufort \| Robert Melvil van Lynden \| Abraham George Ellis \| Willem Marcus van Weede van Berencamp \| Abraham George Ellis \| Dirk Arnold Willem van Tets van Goudriaan \| René de Marees van Swinderen \| Pieter Cort van der Linden \| John Loudon \| Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek \| Frans Beelaerts van Blokland \| Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck \| Andries Cornelies Dirk de Graeff \| Hendrikus Colijn \| Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn \| Eelco van Kleffens \| Herman van Roijen \| Pim van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout \| Dirk Stikker \| Jan Willem Beyen \| Joseph Luns \| Norbert Schmelzer \| Max van der Stoel \| Chris van der Klaauw \| Max van der Stoel \| Dries van Agt \| Hans van den Broek \| Pieter Kooijmans \| Hans van Mierlo \| Jozias van Aartsen \| Jaap de Hoop Scheffer \| Ben Bot \| Maxime Verhagen