Dutch diplomacy icon Max van der Stoel dies at age 86

RNW, 24 April 2011, by RNW News Desk

Former Dutch foreign minister Max van der Stoel (Photo: OSCE)

Former Dutch foreign minister Max van der Stoel died on Saturday after a short sick bed in his hometown of The Hague. His family announced the news of his death at the age of 86 on Saturday evening.

Mr Van der Stoel, a social democrat, twice served as foreign minister in the 1970s and 1980s. After his career in national politics, the United Nations appointed him special human rights envoy to Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991. In that same year, he was appointed a lifetime minister of state by the Dutch government, an honorary title. From 1992, he served as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a job he would hold for seven years.

Dissident movements

Throughout his career, Max van der Stoel fought for human rights. As a politician, he supported dissident movement in the ten dictatorships of Greece and the former Czechoslovakia. A square in the Greek capital Athens has been named after him as a token of gratitude.

Icon

In a first reaction to the news, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: "Modest and involved, he made a difference in many places around the World. The Netherlands has lost a human rights icon.” The prime minister pointed to the many international posts in which Van der Stoel laboured for decades to promote international law and justice.

Steadfast

The Labour Party, of which he was a member, had nothing but praise for the late statesman. Party leader Job Cohen called him: “A true social democrat and a beacon of justice in and to the world. Steadfast and modest, both idealist and realist.”

Mr Cohen said he considered himself privileged to have known Mr Van der Stoel personally. “The Labour Party commemorates him in deep gratitude and the greatest possible respect. My thoughts go out to his family in the face of this great loss.”

Tact

The government information service released a statement on behalf of Queen Beatrix, in which she expressed her deep sorrow upon learning of Max van der Stoel’s death.

The late statesman and diplomat performed a special service for the royal family by acting as a mediator ahead of the marriage of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Argentinian Máxima Zorreguieta. His diplomatic talents were instrumental in persuading the father to the bride, the controversial Jorge Zorreguieta who served as a minister under the former Argentinian military junta, not to attend the wedding.

Poor neighbourhoods

From a very Young age, Max van der Stoel took an interest in social injustices and international developments. His father was a family doctor, and young Max occasionally accompanied his father when he made house calls in poor neighbourhoods. The gap between rich and poor made a lasting impression.

Boring

Van der Stoel was sometimes called colourless or even boring, but he was not offended by these epithets because he felt this was part of his responsibilities. “My main task is to avoid conflict”, he said. His pragmatic attitude regularly sparked disputes with the Labour Party’s left wing, which sought to pursue more idealistic policies.

In the course of his career, Max van der Stoel received numerous high national and international honours and awards: he received the Honorary Medal for Initiative and Ingenuity in the Order of the House of Orange, the Four Freedoms Award, the Geuzenpenning ('Beggars’ Medal', a Dutch award given to persons or organisations who have fought for democracy and against dictatorship, racism and discrimination) and was created a Commander and Grand Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau. In 2007, the Greek government honoured him with the prestigious Great Cross in the Order of the Phoenix.