deBuren

In the Krasse Knarren series deBuren invites experienced Flemish and Dutch politicians and ex-politicians to air their views. With the wisdom they have acquired in the course of their long careers, the guests look back at the past and into the future. On 10th June Jan Pronk and Willy Claes will discuss national security policy and development cooperation past and present. The discussion will be chaired by the VRT journalist Peter Verlinden.

Jan Pronk (b. Scheveningen, 1940) studied Economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, after which he worked as a research assistant for the later Nobel Prize winner, Prof. Jan Tinbergen. In the seventies he became active as a politician for the Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid, or PvdA). Pronk became a member of parliament and then Minister of Development Cooperation. During the first half of the 80s he worked for the United Nations (UNCTAD) in Geneva. After this he returned to Dutch politics where he once again became Minister of Development Cooperation and later Minister of Health, Regional Development and the Environment (VROM). In 2002 he retired from national politics and became a professor in the theory and practice of international development at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague. From July 2004 to June 2007 Pronk was special UN delegate for the Darfur region in the Sudan. He returned to the Netherlands in 2007 where he resumed his position as professor at the ISS.

Willy Claes (b. 1938) studied political and diplomatic science. From 1968 to 1994 he was a member of parliament. He was appointed minister several times. Willy Claes has held the following ministerial posts: Education (1972-1973 and 1988-1989), Economic Affairs (1973-1974, 1977-1981 and 1998-1992) and Foreign Affairs (1992-1994). In 1983 he was appointed Minister of State (honorary title for services as a minister). From 1994 to 1995 he was secretary general for NAVO. He is a highly-rated speaker on international politics both nationally and internationally and has also made a name for himself as a pianist.

In association with the Dutch Embassy