Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1973–1977, 1981–1982) died he was , 86

Max van der Stoel, KCMG  was a Dutch politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands died he was , 86. He served as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
On 17 May 1991, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.^[1]

(3 August 1924 – 23 April 2011)

Career

Van der Stoel studied law at Leiden University where he obtained an LL.M. degree. From 1953 to 1958 he worked for the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, the scientific bureau of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) and became international secretary for the PvdA in 1963. From 1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1982 he was the Netherlands 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. Max van der Stoel is a member of the Bilderberg Group.
In 2001, following his intervention as High Commissioner in the ongoing problem of equitable access to higher education by members of he Albanian ethnic group in the Republic of Macedonia, he became the founding President of the International Foundation for the South East European University, raising some 35m Euros from the international community. He later served as President of the University Board until 2004. He was awarded the University's first honorary Doctorate and the University named its Library in his honour.

Honours and awards

Honours of the Netherlands

• Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (5 December 1966)
• The Honorary medal for Initiative and Ingenuity of the Order of the House of Orange (19 September 1974)
• Order of Orange-Nassau:
  • Commander (11 April 1978)
  • Grand Officer (9 September 1982)
• Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (31 augustus 1999)

Foreign honours

• Grand Cordon of the Honorary Order of the Palm (1977, Suriname)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (1977, Greece)
• Knight Commander (KCMG) of the Order of St Michael and St George (2006, United Kingdom)

Freedom awards

• Freedom of Speech of the Four Freedoms Award (1982)
• Helène de Montigny award (December 1991)
• Dr. J.P. van Praag award (1 June 1993, Netherlands)
• Geuzenpenning (1993, Netherlands)
• Wateler Peace award (30 oktober 1996)

Honorary appointments

• Minister of State (17 May 1991, Netherlands)

Honorary degrees

• Honorary doctorate in Law, University of Athens (1977, Greece)
• Honorary doctorate in Law, Utrecht University (1994, Netherlands)
• Honorary Doctor, South East European University (2005), Republic of Macedonia]

 

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