HOOP SCHEFFER, JAAP (JAKOB GIJSBERT) DE

(1948– )

   Politician and diplomat. After studying law at LeidenUniversity, de Hoop Scheffer started a career in foreign affairs. He was elected to Parliament for the Christen Democratisch Appel (CDA) in 1986. From 1997 until 2001, he was the leader of this party, albeit not very successfully. The following year, he became the minister of foreign affairs in the first Jan Peter Balkenende cabinet, in which he re mained until his appointment as secretary-general of the North At lantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2004.