René van der Linden

Pierre René Hubert Marie (René) van der Linden (born Dec 14 1943, Eys) has been elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in autumn 2005.

Education

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

Career

• Member of the First Chamber (Senate) of the States-General of the Netherlands (from 1999)
• President of the Committee for European cooperation of the First Chamber of the States-General (since 2002)
• 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 Pierre Lardinois (1973-1977) and European Commissioner Henk Vredeling (1977)
• Civil servant, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Netherlands (1971-1973)
• Teacher of economics (1969)

Other posts currently held

• President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) (since 24 January 2005)

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) member (since 1989)

• Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU)
• Member of the executive board of the Dutch employers’ confederation
• Board member of Kerk en Nood (Church and Need)
• Chairman of the Maastricht School of Management (since 1999)
• Board member of several associations in the agricultural sector

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

Other posts previously held

• Chairperson of the Netherlands delegation to PACE (2003-2005)
• Delegated representative of the First Chamber of the States-General of the Netherlands to the Convention on the Future of the European Union
• Patron of Stichting Lisboa, homeless children in Portugal (1995)
• Chairman of the advisory committee of the national school of translators and interpreters, Rijkshogeschool Opleiding tolk-vertaler (1990)
• Adviser to Combined Chambers of Commerce in Limburg (1989 and 1992)
• Member of Consultative Interparliamentary Benelux Council (1977-1986)
• Board member of the Netherlands Organisation for international assistance, NOVIB,
• President of several cultural foundations

Van der Linden was secretary of state of foreign affairs in the Dutch cabinet Lubbers II. He was responsible for the passport fiasco which was caused by ministerial incompetence (Template:Lang-nl).

Distinctions

• Philippine Congressional Medal of Achievement (2005)
• Commander Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2004)
• Knight in the Order of St. Gregory the Great (2003)
• Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau (1998)
• Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion (1988)

Controversies

In 2007, van der Linden became embroiled in controversy as Eesti Päevaleht suggested without providing any evidence that van der Linden's family had business interests in Russia. This is suspected to explain his lack of criticism towards Putin and the Russian government for human rights violations and his pro-Russia and anti-Baltic stand,, as well as his stand against relocating the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn from central Tallinn. (See Soviet occupation of Baltic states for further details.)

During a press conference in Tallinn on Sep 19 2007, a controversy ensued when Linden accused Estonia of not permitting foreigners from outside the EU to take part in local elections. Former Prime Minister of Estonia Mart Laar attempted to correct him, pointing out that all permanent residents in Estonia have had the right to vote (but not to be elected) in local elections for a very long time. However van der Linden referred to reports of the Amnesty International and other human right organizations.

In reaction, the Estonian Social Democratic Party issued a statement claiming that this statement is so big and foolish a lie that Linden should be immediately recalled. 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 from the post.

In a later meeting with members of Riigikogu, the Estonian parliament, Linden described the living conditions in Belarus by stating that the citizens there live without problems and are at peace with themselves. This statement caused significant outrage among Belarusian political refugees living in Estonia.

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.

On October 2 2007, speaker of Estonian Parliament, Ene Ergma, sent a strongly worded open letter to van der Linden, asking him to do his homework 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 .

After a 3 October 2007 phone call from van der Linden, involving threats of getting French police involved, Marko Mihkelson announced he'd hold a press conference to present materials regarding van der Linden's family's business interests in Russia.

The promised press conference was held on 8 October 2007, and its brief summary may be found at in [1], on a blog subsite for Riigikogu members maintained by Postimees. A central topic in the materials is Linden's connection to the biggest industrial park in Europe, established in Sobinsk, Russia in late 2006.