Hans Hillen

Hans Hillen
Hans Hillen
Minister of Defence
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; October 14, 2010
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Eimert van Middelkoop
Member of the Senate
	In office; June 12, 2007 – October 14, 2010
Member of the House of Representatives
	In office; March 20, 1990 – May 23, 2002
Personal details
Born	Johannes Stefanus Joseph Hillen; June 17, 1947 (age 77); The Hague, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Residence(s)	Hilversum, Netherlands
Alma mater	Utrecht University (MA in Sociology)
Occupation	Politician ; Civil servant ; Sport Journalist ; Journalist ; Columnist ; Teacher
Website	Ministry of Defence

Johannes Stefanus Joseph "Hans" Hillen (born June 17, 1947 in The Hague) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He is the current Minister of Defence in the Rutte cabinet.

Biography

Early life

Hillen studied sociology at Utrecht University. He has been a (sports) journalist for the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), teacher and civil servant (in the eighties he was spokesman of minister of Finance Onno Ruding and defender of his outspoken budget cuts) before entering in politics

Politics

From 1990 till 2002 he was a member of the House of Representatives and from 2007 till 2010 a member of the Senate. Since October 14, 2010 he's minister of Defence.^[1] He is in favor of a strong defence and close ties with NATO.

Trivia

From 2003 till 2007 Hillen was president of CVZ, the Dutch council for the healthcare, and from 2005 till 2010 a member of the executive board of the Dutch employers' organization VNO-NCW. He also did some writing, he wrote columns for Elsevier and Katholiek Nieuwsblad.

Furthermore he is involved in the Edmund Burke Foundation, a Dutch conservative think tank. In 2004 he left the advisory council because a conflict of opinion with prominent co-member Bart Jan Spruyt, who wanted to found a new political party with Geert Wilders.

Hillen is married and resides in Hilversum. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

Decorations

Knight - Order of Orange-Nassau (2002)

References

^ His father worked in the army.

External links

Official Parliamentary Biography (Parlement & Politiek)
Template:Nl icon Official Senate Biography

Government offices
Preceded by Eimert van Middelkoop	Minister of Defence 2010-	Succeeded by Incumbent

Template:Persondata

[1] His father worked in the army.

[1]

v t e First Rutte cabinet (2010–2012)
Preceded by: Demissionary fourth Balkenende cabinet Succeeded by: Second Rutte cabinet
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Maxime Verhagen (Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation)
Ministers	Piet Hein Donner (Interior and Kingdom Relations) (2010–2011) Liesbeth Spies (Interior and Kingdom Relations) (from 2011) Uri Rosenthal (Foreign Affairs) Jan Kees de Jager (Finance) Ivo Opstelten (Security and Justice) Hans Hillen (Defence) Edith Schippers (Health, Welfare and Sport) Marja van Bijsterveldt (Education, Culture and Science) Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure and the Environment) Henk Kamp (Social Affairs and Employment)
Minister without portfolio	Gerd Leers (Immigration, Integration and Asylum Affairs)
State secretaries	Ben Knapen (Foreign Affairs) Frans Weekers (Finance) Fred Teeven (Security and Justice) Henk Bleker (Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation) Marlies Veldhuijzen van Zanten (Health, Welfare and Sport) Halbe Zijlstra (Education, Culture and Science) Joop Atsma (Infrastructure and the Environment) Paul de Krom (Social Affairs and Employment)