View source for Geoffrey van Leeuwen

{{Short description|Dutch diplomat and politician (born 1971)}}
{{Family name hatnote|Van Leeuwen|Leeuwen|lang=Dutch}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Geoffrey van Leeuwen
| image               = Geoffrey van Leeuwen in Ukraine, 2023 B (cropped).jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Van Leeuwen in December 2023
| office1             = [[Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (Netherlands)|Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation]]
| status1             = Acting
| term_start1         = 4 December 2023
| term_end1           = 15 April 2024
| predecessor1        = [[Liesje Schreinemacher]]
| successor1          = Liesje Schreinemacher
| office2             = Ambassador of the Netherlands to [[Afghanistan]]
| term_start2         = 2016
| term_end2           = 2018
| predecessor2        = Henk Jan Bakker<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/ambassades-consulaten-en-overige-vertegenwoordigingen/ambassadeurs/b/bakker-henk-jan/henk-jan-bakker |language = nl |access-date = 6 January 2024 |website = [[Government of the Netherlands]] |title = Henk Jan Bakker }}</ref>
| successor2          = Ernst Noorman<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/ambassades-consulaten-en-overige-vertegenwoordigingen/ambassadeurs/n/noorman-ernst/ernst-noorman |language = nl |access-date = 6 January 2024 |website = Government of the Netherlands |title = Ernst Noorman }}</ref>
| birth_name          = Geoffrey E.W. van Leeuwen
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1971|2|7|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[The Hague]], Netherlands
| party               = [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]]
| alma_mater          = {{ubl|[[Leiden University]] <small>([[Master of Laws|LL.M.]])</small>|[[Cambridge University]] <small>([[MPhil]])</small>}}
| occupation          = {{hlist|Diplomat|civil servant}}
}}

'''Geoffrey van Leeuwen''' (born 7 February 1971) is a Dutch diplomat and civil servant who served as acting [[Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (Netherlands)|Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation]] between December 2023 and April 2024 during the maternity leave of [[Liesje Schreinemacher]]. He has also been the ambassador of the Netherlands to [[Afghanistan]].

== Biography ==
Van Leeuwen was born in 1971 in [[The Hague]] and attended the [[Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem|Stedelijk Gymnasium]] secondary school in [[Haarlem]]. In 1988, Van Leeuwen went to the [[University of Leiden]] where he obtained an [[Master of Laws|LL.M.]] degree in [[civil law (common law)|civil law]] in 1994, and in 1993 he also studied [[constitutional law]] at the [[Paris Institute of Political Studies]]. He then moved on to the [[University of Cambridge]], obtaining his [[Master of Philosophy|M.Phil.]] degree in [[international affairs]] in 1995. After completing the conscription as an officer of the [[Royal Netherlands Army]], he held positions in several embassies and at the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]].<ref name="ro">{{Cite web |url = https://www.government.nl/government/members-of-cabinet/geoffrey-van-leeuwen |website = Government of the Netherlands |access-date = 6 January 2024 |title = Geoffrey van Leeuwen }}</ref>

In 2012 and 2013, Van Leeuwen was part of the management team of an integrated police training mission by the Dutch government in the Afghan province of [[Kunduz]] during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|war in that country]]. He subsequently worked as the [[consul-general]] of the Dutch consulate-general in [[Mumbai]], and he was appointed ambassador to Afghanistan in 2016.<ref name="ro"/><ref name="nos"/> He returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague in 2018 to serve as Director Middle East and North Africa.<ref name="ro"/>

Van Leeuwen became a counselor to Prime Minister [[Mark Rutte]] on foreign affairs and defense issues at his [[Ministry of General Affairs]] in October 2020.<ref name="ro"/><ref name="nos">{{Cite news |url = https://nos.nl/artikel/2499776-minister-schreinemacher-tijdens-zwangerschap-vervangen-door-geoffrey-van-leeuwen |website = [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting|NOS]] |language = nl |access-date = 6 January 2024 |date = 30 November 2023 |title = Minister Schreinemacher tijdens zwangerschap vervangen door Geoffrey van Leeuwen |trans-title = Minister Schreinemacher replaced by Geoffrey van Leeuwen during maternity leave }}</ref> On 4 December 2023, he was sworn in by [[King Willem-Alexander]] as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation as a result of the maternity leave of Liesje Schreinemacher, who became the first Dutch minister in history to take such a leave. Van Leeuwen is a member of the conservative-liberal [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD).<ref name="nos"/><ref>{{Cite press release |url = https://www.government.nl/government/members-of-cabinet/geoffrey-van-leeuwen/news/2023/11/30/geoffrey-van-leeuwen-to-become-minister-for-foreign-trade-and-development-cooperation |website = Government of the Netherlands |access-date = 6 January 2024 |date = 30 November 2023 |title = Geoffrey van Leeuwen to become Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation }}</ref> Schreinemacher returned to the position on 15 April 2024.<ref>{{Cite press release |url = https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/regering/nieuws/2024/04/15/minister-liesje-schreinemacher-keert-terug-als-minister-voor-buitenlandse-handel-en-ontwikkelingssamenwerking |website = [[Government of the Netherlands]] |access-date = 15 April 2024 |date = 15 April 2024 |title = Liesje Schreinemacher keert terug als minister voor Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking |language = nl |trans-title = Liesje Schreinemacher returns as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation }}</ref> When [[Mark Rutte]], formerly Prime Minister of the Netherlands, became [[Secretary General of NATO]] in October 2024, Van Leeuwen joined him to [[Brussels]] as director of his private office.<ref>{{Cite news |url = https://www.volkskrant.nl/politiek/oliemannetje-mark-rutte-zal-vanaf-nu-heel-goed-op-zijn-woorden-moeten-letten~b850cf9d/ |url-access = subscription |date = 1 October 2024 |last = Brouwers |first = Arnout |access-date = 2 October 2024 |language = nl |website = [[de Volkskrant]] |title = Oliemannetje Mark Rutte zal vanaf nu heel goed op zijn woorden moeten letten |trans-title = Fixer Mark Rutte will have to be very careful with his words from now on }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/who_is_who_146212.htm?selectedLocale=en |title = Geoffrey van Leeuwen |access-date = 2 October 2024 |website = [[NATO]] }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/who_is_who_146212.htm Official NATO profile]

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{{s-bef|before=[[Liesje Schreinemacher]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (Netherlands)|Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation]]<br>{{small|Acting}}|years=2023–2024}}
{{s-aft|after=Liesje Schreinemacher}}
{{s-end}}

{{Ministers for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands}}
{{Fourth Rutte cabinet}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeuwen, Geoffrey van}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Dutch politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Dutch diplomats]]
[[Category:People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians]]
[[Category:Ministers for development cooperation of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Leiden University alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Dutch expatriates in India]]
[[Category:NATO officials]]