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Jozias van Aartsen
Mayor of The Hague
Incumbent
Assumed office  March 27, 2008
Preceded by	Wim Deetman
Chair of the Parliamentary Party - VVD House of Representatives
In office May 27, 2003 – March 8, 2006
Preceded by	Gerrit Zalm
Succeeded by	Mark Rutte
Member of the House of Representatives
In office May 23, 2002 – November 30, 2006
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office August 3, 1998 – July 22, 2002
Prime Minister	Wim Kok
Preceded by	Hans van Mierlo
Succeeded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Member of the House of Representatives
In office May 19, 1998 – August 3, 1998
Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
In office August 22, 1994 – August 3, 1998
Prime Minister	Wim Kok
Preceded by	Piet Bukman
Succeeded by	Hayo Apotheker
Born	December 25, 1947 (1947-12-25) (age 62) The Hague, Netherlands
Birth name	Jozias Johannes van Aartsen
Political party	VVD
Residence	The Hague, Netherlands
Alma mater	Vrije Universiteit
Occupation	Politician

Jozias Johannes van Aartsen (born December 25, 1947, in The Hague) is a Dutch politician and member of the liberal VVD. He is currently the Mayor of The Hague.

Former agriculture minister (1994-1998) and former foreign minister (1998-2002). He was the parliamentary leader of the VVD in the Dutch House of Representatives from May 27, 2003 until March 8, 2006 when he stepped down because of poor results in the 2006 Dutch municipal election. His successor was Willibrord van Beek, a member of parliament since 1998.^[1] In August 2006 Van Aartsen announced he would not run as a candidate for the VVD in the 2006 general election.^[2]. In a letter^[3] to party leader Mark Rutte he expressed his disappointment with the demise of the Second Balkenende cabinet which in his view was uncalled for. He also warned for VVD interparty warring between a populist fraction with a no-nonsense attitude and focus on tax cuts and law and order and a liberal fraction focused on personal freedoms, rule of law, international orientation and education.

Biography

Van Aartsen with Paul Wolfowitz

Jozias van Aartsen is the son of Jan van Aartsen, himself a minister of the Netherlands from 1958 to 1965. After completing the Gymnasium-a he studied law at the Vrije Universiteit but did not graduate. At the age of 22 van Aartsen moved to The Hague to work in politics.

When Hans Wiegel became party leader, in 1971, van Aartsen was asked to work for Hans Wiegel as employee of the party in the Dutch House of Representatives. In 1974 he became General Manager of the Prof. mr. B.M. Telder Foundation, the scientific institute of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. In 1978 Van Aartsen became Chef de Bureau of the Secretary General of Interior. He did this under ministers Rietkerk, van Dijk, de Korte, de Koning, Dales and de Graaf. In 1985 he became Secretary General of Interior himself. He was minister of Agriculture from 1994-1998 in the First cabinet of Wim Kok. In the Second cabinet of Wim Kok he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. When the cabinet fell as a direct result of the NIOD report about the fall of Srebrenica, he became parliamentary leader in the Dutch parliament.

On April 1 2004 an attempt was made to overrun van Aartsen by a car when he and a co-worker were doing a photoshoot in front of Hotel Des Indes in The Hague. Van Aartsen was not hurt but the co-worker did sustain a shoulder injury. The assailant, a 41 year old lawyer by the name of Frederiek de Jongh and an employee of Bureau Rechtshulp in Utrecht confessed her action was politically motivated.^[4]

Jozias van Aartsen is a member of the Bilderberg Group.

External links

• Official website

References