As of today, Wopke Hoekstra is leaving as outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs. The CDA member has submitted his resignation to the king.
Hoekstra is a candidate to go to the European Commission as Commissioner for Climate. He wants to prepare for the transition in the near future. There will soon be a hearing in the European Parliament on his candidacy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now first assumed by the Minister for Development Cooperation, Liesje Schreinemacher (VVD).
But it is the intention that a new minister from the CDA house will soon take office.
Prime Minister Rutte said today that this will happen “in the short term”. It is now up to the CDA to nominate someone. This also applies to a new deputy prime minister: Hoekstra fulfilled that position on behalf of the CDA and someone must also be appointed there.
Support from von der Leyen
Hoekstra was nominated by the cabinet as European Commissioner last week. He must succeed the departed Frans Timmermans. He resigned last week because he became the leader of the GroenLinks/PvdA combination in the parliamentary elections.
President Von der Leyen of the European Commission supports Hoekstra’s candidacy. He had been Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister since the start of the Rutte IV cabinet. He was Minister of Finance in the previous cabinet.
Even earlier he worked for consultancy firm McKinsey and Shell, among others, and he was a member of the Dutch Senate for the CDA.
- Von der Leyen supports Hoekstra’s candidacy for the position of European Climate Commissioner
- Rutte: ‘Hoekstra can tackle important issues quickly’
