Pierre René Hubert Marie van der Linden (born 14 December 1943) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician and diplomat of the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP) and later the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(CDA) party and economist. Van der Linden applied at the Catholic University Brabant in June 1964 majoring in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; th ...

degree in June 1966 and worked as student researcher before graduating with a

Master of Economics The Master of Economics (MEcon or MEc) is a postgraduate master's degree in economics comprising training in economic theory, econometrics, and/or applied economics. The degree is also offered as an MS or MSc, MA or MCom in economics; varia ...

degree in July 1970. Van der Linden worked as an economics teacher in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

from April 1969 until July 1971. Van der Linden worked as a civil servant for the department of Food Quality of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from July 1971 until January 1973 and served as Chief of staff for the European Commissioner of the Netherlands from January 1973 until January 1977 serving under

Pierre Lardinois Pierre Joseph Lardinois (13 August 1924 – 16 July 1987) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Lardinois applied at the Wa ...

from January 1973 until January 1977 and for Henk Vredeling from January 1977 until June 1977. Van der Linden was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1977, taking office on 8 June 1977 serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for European Affairs and Agriculture and deputy spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...

. After the election of 1986 Van der Linden was appointed as

State Secretary for Foreign Affairs The State Secretary for Foreign Affairs ( sv, Kabinettssekreterare) is the highest position below the rank of cabinet minister at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. , Jan Knutsson is State Secretary.Cabinet Lubbers II, taking office on 14 July 1986. On 9 September 1988 Van der Linden resigned following the conclusions of a

parliamentary inquiry In parliamentary procedure, requests and inquiries are motions used by members of a deliberative assembly to obtain information or to do or have something done that requires permission of the assembly. Except for a request to be excused from a duty ...

report into a passport fraud investigation that was mishandled by his predecessor as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs

Wim van Eekelen Willem Frederik "Wim" van Eekelen (born 5 February 1931) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat, and political scientist. Early life and education Van Eekelen attended a Gymnasium in Utrecht from June 1943 until June 1949 and applied at the ...

who was then serving as

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

and who had resigned four days earlier on 6 September 1988. Van der Linden returned as a Member of the House of Representatives following the appointment of Jeltien Kraaijeveld-Wouters as Mayor of Hilversum, taking office on 29 November 1988 serving again as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for Foreign Affairs and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, Agriculture and Benelux. In December 1997 Van der Linden announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1998 and continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 19 May 1998. Van der Linden remained in active in national politics, he was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1999, taking office on 8 June 1999 serving as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for European Affairs and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and deputy spokesperson for Agriculture and Benelux. Van der Linden also served as

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is the head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE): the deliberative consultative body of the Council of Europe. References

{{Reflist Parliamentary ...

from 1 January 2005 until 1 January 2008. Van der Linden also became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

and

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Atlantic Association The Atlantic Association was a minor league baseball organization that operated between 1889 and 1890 and again in 1908 in the Northeastern United States. History First Demise In each of the two seasons 4 or more teams failed to finish the season a ...

Robeco Robeco is an originally Dutch asset management firm, since 2013 part of Orix, founded in 1929 as the Rotterdamsch Beleggings Consortium (Rotterdam Investment Consortium). As of 2014, the company had €246 billion of assets under management. It ...

Oxfam Novib Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford C ...

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

, Akkerbouw,

Van Lanschot Van Lanschot Kempen N.V. is a specialised, independent wealth manager that provides private banking, investment management and investment banking services to wealthy individuals and institutions. It is headquartered in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Nether ...

and Institute of International Relations Clingendael). Van der Linden also worked as a trade association executive for the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO-NCW) and as an education administrator for the

Maastricht School of Management The Maastricht School of Management (MSM) is a management school in Maastricht, the Netherlands. From 1 September 2022 MSM is part of the School of Business and Economics (SBE) of Maastricht University. MSM's activities in the fields of education ...

serving as Chairman of the Education board from October 1999 until November 2016. Van der Linden was nominated as President of the Senate following the appointed of

Yvonne Timmerman-Buck Yvonne Elisabeth Marie Antoinette Timmerman-Buck (born 26 July 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. She has been a Member of the Council of State since 1 November 2009. Early life Timmerman-Buck ...

as a Member of the Council of State, serving from 6 October 2009 until 28 June 2011. In November 2014 Van der Linden announced that he wouldn't stand for the Senate election of 2015 and continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 9 June 2015.

Education

Economics: international administrative studies at Catholic Economics Faculty in Tilburg, (1966–1970), (now known as

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a public research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg in the southern part of the Netherlands. Tilburg University h ...

)

Career

*Member of the First Chamber (Senate) of the

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

(1999–2015) *President of the First Chamber (Senate) of the

(from 2009 until 2011) *President of the Committee for European cooperation of the First Chamber of the States-General (from 2002 to 2009) *Member of the Second Chamber of the States-General of the Netherlands (1977–1986 and 1988–1998) Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs with responsibility for European Affairs (1986–1988) *Member of the cabinet of European Commissioner

(1973–1977) and European Commissioner Henk Vredeling (1977) *Civil servant, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Netherlands (1971–1973) *Teacher of economics (1969)

Party political posts

Chairperson of EPP/CD group in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) (1999–2005) and vice-chairperson (1989–1999) Second vice-chairperson of the Christian Democratic political group, CDA, Second Chamber of the States-General of the Netherlands (1982–1986) Member of the party executive of the CDA Member of the party executive of the former Catholic Popular Party, (KVP), and vice-chairman of the KVP youth section

Controversies

Controversial claims about citizenship issues in Baltic Countries

During a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

in Tallinn on 19 September 2007, a controversy ensued when Linden accused

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

of not permitting non-citizen residents to take part in

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Former

Prime Minister of Estonia The Prime Minister of Estonia (Estonian: ''peaminister'') is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the president after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed by th ...

Mart Laar Mart Laar (born 22 April 1960) is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's rapid economic development dur ...

attempted to correct him, pointing out that all

permanent resident Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...

s in Estonia have the right to vote (but not to be elected) in local elections. However van der Linden referred to reports of the Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. In reaction, the

Estonian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party ( et, Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond, SDE) is a centre-left political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Lauri Läänemets. The party was formerly known as the Moderate People's Party ( et, Rahvaerakond Mõõduka ...

issued a statement calling that van der Linden be immediately dismissed from his post. Admitting that Linden's term of office is due to end in late 2007 anyway, the statement declared that he had with his inaccurate comments disqualified himself. On 2 October 2007, speaker of Estonian Parliament, Ene Ergma, sent a strongly worded

open letter An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...

to van der Linden, asking him to do his

homework Homework is a set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside the classroom. Common homework assignments may include required reading, a writing or typing project, mathematical exercises to be completed, informatio ...

and "give up spreading erroneous information about Estonia", which "created confusion and bewilderment both in the Estonian public and internationally." In his reply, van der Linden expressed amazement at the content of the letter and the fact that Ene Ergma made accusations public before giving him any right of reply. He also pointed out that Ene Ergma never expressed such views to him during their meeting, which took place less than two weeks before. Later that month, in a press conference in Lithuania, he claimed that millions of people live without status in the Baltic countries. The population of Estonia is roughly 1,342,000, of which roughly 8.5% are without defined citizenship.

Alleged financial interest in Russia

In August 2007, van der Linden became embroiled in controversy after articles in the ''

Eesti Päevaleht ''Eesti Päevaleht'' ''("Estonia Daily")'' is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly ''Eesti Ekspress''. It has a daily circulation of around 36,000. History and profile ''Eesti Päevaleht'' was founded on 5 Jun ...

'' suggested that van der Linden's family had business interests in Russia. This is suspected to explain his lack of criticism towards

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

and the Russian government for

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

violations and his pro-Russia and anti-Baltic stand, as well as his stand against relocating the

Bronze Soldier of Tallinn The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, whi ...

from central

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. After a 3 October 2007 phone call from van der Linden, threatening investigation by

French police Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD 570 when night watch systems were commonplace.Dammer, H. R. and Albanese, J. S. (2014). ''Comparative Criminal Justice Systems'' (5th ed.). Wadesworth Cengage learning: Belmont, ...

Marko Mihkelson Marko Mihkelson (born 30 November 1969) is an Estonian journalist and politician representing the liberal Reform Party (Renew Europe) in the Parliament of Estonia. Mihkelson was born in Valga, and was first elected to the parliament in 2003 a ...

, chairman of the Estonian parliament's European Union affairs committee, held a press conference on 8 October 2007 where he presented materials collected from various publicly available Russian media sources in which central topic is van der Linden's role as the head of the supervisory council of a certain Dutch investment company that established the biggest industrial park in Europe in Sobinsk,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in late 2006. Subsequently, van der Linden denied all accusations and stated that he never had any financial interest in Russia neither is he serving as mentioned chairman. He was called the head of the supervisory board of Noble House Group at the home page of the Dutch investment company Noble House Trading. However, a representative of Noble House Holding told Estonia's ETV, on 7 October 2007, that van der Linden is not a member of the company's supervisory board and that the supervisory board would be appointed only next year.

Alleged Security Risk due to Russia

In November 2022 Van der Linden was reported to be monitored and having his phone tapped by the dutch security service

AIVD The General Intelligence and Security Service ( nl, Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD; ) is the intelligence and security agency of the Netherlands, tasked with domestic, foreign and signals intelligence and protecting national s ...

due to his ties to close associates to Vladimir Putin. As such Van der Linden was accused of being a "Russian pawn", having been in close contact with an exposed Russian spy and having traveled in Europe at the expense of Russians.

Decorations

Other honours

Honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

Nafplio Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

of Liège *

Honorary President A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up ...

*Friendship Award of Azerbaijan Republic 2013

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. P.R.H.M. (René) van der Linden
Parlement & Politiek *
Drs. P.R.H.M. van der Linden (CDA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal
Кремлевский легион Совета Европы
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linden, Rene van der 1943 births Living people Catholic People's Party politicians Van Lanschot Kempen people Christian Democratic Appeal MEPs Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch political consultants Dutch political writers Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch school administrators Dutch speechwriters Dutch trade association executives European Union lobbyists Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of St. Gregory the Great Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Officers of the Order of Leopold II Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Oxfam people People from Beekdaelen People from Gulpen-Wittem Presidents of the Senate (Netherlands) Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Turkey) Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines) State Secretaries for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Tilburg University alumni Tilburg University faculty Western European Union people 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch diplomats 21st-century Dutch economists 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch politicians