Maxime Verhagen
Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a retired Dutch politician and deep state operative. He attended the 2006 Bilderberg meeting before becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs He is part of the European Israel lobby.
Contents
Education
A native of Maastricht, Verhagen studied contemporary history at Leiden University until 1986. As a student he was member of LSV Minerva.
Career
In 1976 he became a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and was a municipal council member of Oegstgeest from 1986 to 1990. He was a member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1994. On May 17, 1994, he was elected to the Second Chamber of the Dutch parliament. After the success of the CDA in the 2002 parliamentary election, Jan Peter Balkenende was tasked with forming a government and Verhagen took over the chairmanship of the CDA parliamentary group in the Second Chamber.
On February 22, 2007, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Balkenende IV cabinet. In February 2010, the cabinet fell, and Verhagen became a placeholder minister. In addition, he took over the Development Aid department. In the parliamentary elections in June 2010, the CDA lost almost half of its seats and fell to fourth place. Subsequently, Balkenende resigned as party leader of the CDA. On 17. In June 2010, Verhagen again took over the post of chairman of the parliamentary group in the Second Chamber.
He also led the coalition negotiations for the CDA, which led to the formation of the minority government of Mark Rutte. On 14 October 2010, Verhagen was appointed Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and Deputy Prime Minister. While the post of political director of the CDA remained vacant after Balkenende's resignation, Verhagen acted, first as group chairman, then as deputy prime minister, as the de facto leader of the party. However, in the run-up to the 2012 parliamentary election, his successor at the head of the parliamentary group, Sybrand van Haersma Buma, took over. The election brought another significant loss forthe CDA, which subsequently left the government.
After the end of his term as minister on November 5, 2012, Verhagen retired from politics. From 2013 to 2023 he was chairman of the Construction Industry Association Bouwend Nederland. He was a member of the Board of the Shell Foundation (2017-2018).[1]
Since April 2024, he has been an associate partner at lobby firm Meines Holla & partners.[2]
Israeli junket
He attended the 2008 Herzliya Conference. In January 2009 Verhagen visited the southern Israeli town of Sderot[paid by whom?] - reportedly as a 'gesture of solidarity with its residents'. Three Israeli civilians were killed by rockets fired from Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. Verhagen refused to travel further into Gaza itself, where 1,400 Palestinians were killed over a three-week bombardment by Israeli forces. Verhagen has defended Israel even more hawkishly than most of his peers in the European Union's 27 governments. Verhagen expressed his support in an interview published in a Christenen voor Israel (Christians for Israel) newsletter, part of a wider pro-Israel lobby with significant political clout in the Netherlands.[3]
He was member of the Comité Iran Vrij (Free Iran Committee) as of 2023.[4]
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/2006 | 8 June 2006 | 11 June 2006 | Canada Ottawa | 54th Bilderberg, held in Canada. 133 guests |
| Herzliya Conference/2008 | 20 January 2008 | 23 January 2008 | Israel Tel Aviv Reichman University | A 2008 conference on Israeli security needs. |
| Munich Security Conference/2009 | 2009 | 2009 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 45th Munich Security Conference. About 60% of the participants have a page. |
Event Witnessed
| Event | Date | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Munich Security Conference/2014 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 50th Munich Security Conference, around half of the attendants have pages. |
References
- ↑ https://shellfoundation.org/news/board-of-trustees-shell-foundation-announces-new-chair/
- ↑ https://www.meinesholla.nl/maxime-verhagen-treedt-toe-als-associate-partner-bij-meines-holla-partners/
- ↑ https://www.globalissues.org/news/2010/07/27/6425
- ↑ https://www.nd.nl/nieuws/buitenland/1168338/het-nieuwe-comite-iran-vrij-wil-dat-europa-de-revolutionaire
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