René van der Linden

Pierre René Hubert Marie 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

*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 CDAMember of the party executive of the former Catholic Popular Party, KVP, and vice-chairman of the KVP youth section

Other posts previously held

*President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) (2005-2008)
*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 ( _nl. paspoortaffaire).

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 Netherlands Lion (1988)

Controversies

Controversial claims about citizenship issues in Baltic Countries

During a press conference in Tallinn on Sep 19 2007, a controversy ensued when Linden accused Estonia of not permitting non-citizen residents to take part in local elections. [Reporter (Kanal 2) 19 September 2007: [http://www.reporter.ee/index.php/2007/09/19/laar-eesti-valimisseadus-ei-ahista-venelasi Eesti venelaste ahistamise jutt viis Mart Laari sõnasõtta] (Adobe Flash video, English sound, Estonian subtitles)] Former Prime Minister of Estonia Mart Laar attempted to correct him, pointing out that all permanent residents 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 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. [Eesti Päevaleht 1 October 2007: [http://epl.ee/uudised/402103 SDE: van der Lindeni peaks maha võtma] , edited by Erik Rand] [ [http://www.regnum.ru/english/892661.html Estonian politicians call for resignation of PACE president] ]

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." [ [http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1191334621.96 Estonian lawmakers call for top EU official to be fired] ] 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. [ [http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/18940/ Van der Linden strikes back] ]

Later that month, in a press conference in Lithuania, he claimed that millions of people live without status in the Baltic countries. [The Baltic Times 2 October 2007: [http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/18937/ Estonia blasts UN, PACE 'propaganda' and 'lies'] ] [Regnum 24 September 2007: [http://www.regnum.ru/english/polit/889269.html PACE president stresses need for equal treatment for all those living in the Baltic states] ] . 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 as Eesti Päevaleht suggested without providing any evidence that van der Linden's family had business interests in Russia. [Eesti Päevaleht 3 August 2007: [http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/394989 REPLIIK: Kremli käpiknukud] ] 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, [Jamestown Foundation 3 August 2007: [http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372343 PACE Chairman Bending to the Kremlin Wind against Estonia] by Vladimir Socor] , as well as his stand against relocating the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn from central Tallinn.

After a 3 October 2007 phone call from van der Linden, threatenig investigation by French police, Riigikogu member Marko Mihkelson announced he'll hold a press conference to present materials regarding van der Linden's family's business interests in Russia. [Marko Mihkelson's personal blog 4 October 2007: [http://markomihkelson.blogspot.com/2007/10/eile-helistas-mulle-van-der-linden.html Eile helistas mulle van der Linden] ]

Press conference was held on 8 October 2007 where Mihkelson 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 in late 2006 [ [http://riigikogu.postimees.ee/online/riigikogu2007/blog.php?ID=2892 blog subsite for Riigikogu members maintained by Postimees] . 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 [ [http://www.postimees.ee/091007/esileht/siseuudised/288076.php Rene van der Linden andis Mihkelsonile vastulöögi] ] . 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 [ [http://www.noblehouse.ru/eng/realestate.php?inc=news&id=216 Noble House ] ] . However, a representative of Noble House Holding told Estonia's ETV October 7, 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 [ [http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/18990/ Van der Linden controversy re-ignites] ] .

References