Hans was born in 1953 in Gulpen, Zuid- Limburg. After obtaining his Masters in Law in Brussels he specialized in European Law at the Europa College in Brugge. In 1979 he started working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His diplomatic career started in Luanda (Angola), afterwards Buenos Aires (Argentina), Hanoi (Vietnam) and Lissabon (Portugal). In 1990 he became head of the Sub Sahara division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague. From 1993 until 1997 he was head of the Political Division of the Netherlands Permanent Representation to the United Nations in New York. After that he was back at the Ministry in The Hague as the Head Conflict Prevention, Peace Operations, Military and Civil Cooperation Division.
From 1999 until 2003 he was the Head Defense Policy and Planning of the Netherlands Permanent Representation to NATO and after that Deputy Director, Security Policy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hague before moving to Port of Spain in 2006. | Dutch version | |
