was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1973 to 1977 and in 1981-82. Subsequently, he was ambassador to the United Nations and member of the Dutch Council of Sate.; in 1991 he was appointed Minister of State. From 1991 to 1999 he was UN-representative for Human Rights in Irak and from 1993 to 2001 he was High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Since July 2001 he acts as special advisor to Javier Solana, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Secretary-General of the European Union (EU).