Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer ( Dutch: [ˈjaːb də ɦoːp ˈsxɛfər] ; born 3 April 1948) is a Dutch retired politician, jurist and diplomat who served as the eleventh secretary general of NATO from January 2004 to August 2009. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which he led from March 1997 to October 2001, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 2002 until December 2003 under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

De Hoop Scheffer studied law at Leiden University obtaining a Master of Laws degree before he worked as a civil servant and diplomat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the diplomatic service from October 1976 until June 1986. In the 1986 general election he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives, where he served a frontbencher and spokesperson for foreign and European affairs. After party leader and parliamentary leader Enneüs Heerma stepped down De Hoop Scheffer was selected as his successor on 27 March 1997; he was the party's lead candidate for the 1998 general election. Following an internal power struggle with party chairman Marnix van Rij before an upcoming general election De Hoop Scheffer announced that he was stepping down as leader and would not stand at the election.