Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Netherlands

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the Netherlands
Kingdom
Constitution
Monarchy
States-General
Cabinet
Political parties
Elections
Decentralized gov't
Foreign policy
Related subjects
Other countries · Atlas
 Politics Portal
view • talk • edit

The Ministry of Defence (Ministerie van Defensie; Def) is the Dutch Ministry of Defence: it coordinates the military of the Netherlands. The current minister is Eimert van Middelkoop, he is assisted by a state secretary Jack de Vries.

Contents

[edit] Responsibilities

The ministry has the responsibility for

  • protecting the territory of the Netherlands and her allies, including the Dutch Antilles and Aruba.
  • protecting and enhancing the international legal system and stability.
  • supporting civil authorities in maintaining order, in case of emergencies and in giving humanitarian aid, both national and international.

[edit] Organisation

The ministry consists of the minister and the state secretary, the civil service in the Hague and the military of the Netherlands. The ministry is led by the secretary-general, the highest civil servant and a vice-secretary general. It comprises three directorates general, Finance, Personnel and Equipment. The last two control the Command Service Centres (Commando DienstenCentra) and the Defense Material Organization (Defensie Materieel Organisatie). The highest military official is the commander of the armed forces (Commandant der Strijdkrachten), he controls the operational commands, the Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy, Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Constabulary. The ministry employes over 70,000 civil and military personnel.

[edit] History

Since 1813 the Netherlands had a ministry of War and a ministry of the Navy. In 1928 these merged to form the ministry of defense, but between 1945-1959 the ministries were separated again. In this period the minister of War and the Navy were often the same person and the state secretary of the Navy was responsible for daily affairs. In 1959 the ministries were merged.

[edit] Ministers

Since 1989 the following politicians have been minister of Defense:

2007-now Eimert van Middelkoop (ChristenUnie)

2002-2007 Henk Kamp (VVD)

  • 2002-2007 Cees van der Knaap (CDA, state secretary)

2002 Benk Korthals (VVD)

  • 2002 Cees van der Knaap (CDA, state secretary)

1998-2002 Frank de Grave (VVD)

  • 1998-2002 Henk van Hoof (VVD)

1994-1998 Joris Voorhoeve (VVD)

  • 1994-1998 Jan Gmelich Meijling (VVD)

1989-1994 Relus ter Beek (PvdA)

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Nederlandse Strijdkrachten (Military of the Netherlands)

under the command of the Ministry of Defence
v • d • e
Dutch ministries
Languages