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Dutch politician and diplomat (born 1964) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caspar Cornelis Johannes Veldkamp (born 23 April 1964) is a Dutch politician and former diplomat currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Schoof cabinet. Veldkamp previously served as a member of the House of Representatives for the New Social Contract party from December 2023 to July 2024.[1]
Caspar Veldkamp | |
---|---|
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
Assumed office 2 July 2024 | |
Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
Preceded by | Hanke Bruins Slot |
Member of the House of Representatives | |
In office 6 December 2023 – 2 July 2024 | |
Ambassador of the Netherlands to Greece | |
In office 2015–2019 | |
Ambassador of the Netherlands to Israel | |
In office 2011–2015 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Caspar Cornelis Johannes Veldkamp 23 April 1964 Etten-Leur, Netherlands |
Political party | New Social Contract (2023–present) |
Other political affiliations | Christian Democratic Appeal (formerly) |
Spouse | Anne Veldkamp |
Children | 4 |
Residence(s) | The Hague, Netherlands |
Alma mater | Erasmus University Rotterdam Leiden University |
Occupation | |
Veldkamp started working as a policy officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993.[2] He later had postings in Warsaw, Washington, DC, Brussels, and London, and he served as Ambassador of the Netherlands to Israel (2011–2015) and to Greece (2015–2019).[3][4] In the latter role, he cooperated with Minister of Finance and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem on the Greek government-debt crisis. His last diplomatic position was as a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's board of directors.[3]
Veldkamp was a long-time member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) before he joined New Social Contract (NSC) to participate in the 2023 general election.[3][5] During the campaign, Veldkamp said to be critical of the "transfer of powers" towards the European Union (EU). He presented the newly-founded party he joined as an "optimistic party for the dissatisfied citizen".[6] He was elected to the House of Representatives, where his focus as a parliamentarian has been on foreign affairs and migration.[7]
After the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB formed the Schoof cabinet, Veldkamp was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 2 July 2024, succeeding Hanke Bruins Slot.[3][8] In his first days, he attended the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., where he met with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Veldkamp announced that the Netherlands will push for the EU to declare Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization.[9]
Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party seats | Individual | |||||||
2023 | House of Representatives | New Social Contract | 4 | 2,386 | 20 | Won | [10] |
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