Stef Blok

Biography

Early life

Stephanus Abraham Blok was born on 10 December 1964 in Emmeloord, now in the Province of Flevoland. After attending Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden from 1977 until 1983, he studied Business Administration at the University of Groningen from 1983 until 1989 and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration and an M.S. in Business Administration degree. Blok worked for ABN AMRO as a credit broker and later as a branch manager from 1989 until 1998.

He was a member of the municipal council of Nieuwkoop from 1994 to 1998.

One of his ancestors was J.F.A. Dligoor, an engineer working in Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in building Prijetan dam in Lamongan, East Java and who was buried in the country.

Politics

Blok served as Acting Minister of Security and Justice after the resignation of Ivo Opstelten from 10 March until 20 March 2015 while retaining his other cabinet position. He resigned as Minister for Housing and the Central Government Sector on 27 January 2017 to hold the title of Minister of Security and Justice in a full position until 26 October 2017, following the resignation of Ard van der Steur. Blok also served as Acting Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations from 29 June to 16 September 2016 while Ronald Plasterk underwent surgery. After his term as justice minister, Blok announced his plans to leave politics.

Following the resignation of Halbe Zijlstra as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 13 February 2018, Blok was selected to succeed him.

Controversy

In July 2018, Blok expressed criticism of multiculturalism and argued that black African migrants could not be resettled in Eastern Europe because they would be beaten up, during a meeting that was later telecast on Zembla:

:"Give me an example, of a multiethnic or multicultural society, where the original population are still living as well. [...] And where there are peaceful community relations. I am not aware of any." An audience member suggested Suriname. :"Suriname peaceful? A functioning rule of law and democracy? Courageous, this remark. So the parties in Suriname are not divided by their ethnicity? [...] I admire your optimism. Suriname is a failed state and that is very much linked to its ethnic composition.” One audience member suggested Singapore was a successful multi-ethnic society and Blok responded that Singapore is a “small mini-country,” which is “extremely selective in its migration” and does not allow poor immigrants except "maybe for cleaning."

His remarks led to the Government of Suriname to demand an apology and the island-government of Curaçao, part of the Dutch Kingdom, to distance itself from the minister's remarks. The latter responded to the minister's remarks by stating:

: "Minister Blok's expressions are not representative of the reality in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. On the contrary. In our view the Curacao multicultural society reflects a better picture of norms and values, such as justice, tolerance and freedom, which we share within the Kingdom."

In Suriname, both the government and the opposition opposed the idea that Suriname is a failed state due to its ethnic diversity. It prompted Chan Santokhi of the opposition Progressive Reform Party to respond:

: "That Suriname under this government has become a country that some refer to as a ‘failed state’ is not due to its multicultural composition. Suriname is faced with a lack of good governance and unrestrained corruption."

Honours

Blok received the following honours:

• Netherlands: Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau
• Belgium: Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II
• Estonia: Member 1st Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (5 June 2018)
• Latvia: Grand Officer (2nd class) of the Order of the Three Stars
• Lithuania: Grand Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania
• Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

References

References

1. (5 March 2018). "Stef Blok nieuwe minister van Buitenlandse Zaken". NOS.
2. (5 March 2018). "Stef Blok wordt minister van Buitenlandse Zaken". RTL Nieuws.
3. (5 March 2018). "'VVD'er Stef Blok volgt Halbe Zijlstra op als minister van Buitenlandse Zaken'". NU.nl.
4. "Ketika Menlu Belanda Ziarah Leluhur di Area Waduk Waduk Prijetan, Lamongan".
5. {{in lang. nl [http://www.nu.nl/politiek/4007553/minister-blok-neemt-veiligheid-en-justitie-er-even-bij.html Minister Blok neemt Veiligheid en Justitie er even bij], NU.nl, 10 March 2015.
6. {{in lang. nl [http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/stef-blok-fractievoorzitter-vvd Stef Blok fractievoorzitter VVD] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-06-21 , RTLNieuws, 6 October 2010.)
7. (27 January 2017). "Ontslagaanvraag minister en staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie". King's Office.
8. Toby Sterling (March 5, 2018), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-politics/dutch-govt-names-former-justice-minister-blok-as-new-foreign-minister-idUSKBN1GH2GD Dutch gov't. names former justice minister Blok as new foreign minister] ''[[Reuters]]''.
9. (5 March 2018). "Stef Blok nieuwe minister Buitenlandse Zaken". Telegraaf.
10. Kuipers, Ank. (18 July 2018). "Suriname leaders slam Dutch minister over 'failed state' comments". Reuters.
11. (19 July 2018). "Dutch foreign minister: Migrants would be 'beaten up' in Eastern Europe".
12. (18 July 2018). "Peaceful multicultural societies don't exist, Dutch FM says".
13. (19 July 2018). "Dutch FM "regrets" contentious anti-multiculturalism statements".
14. "Analysis - Dutch foreign minister says multicultural societies breed violence". Washington Post.
15. (20 July 2018). "Curacao distances itself from Dutch FM's multiculturalism statements; Suriname demands apology".
16. [https://www.eca.europa.eu/Members/DECLINT_BLOK/DECLINT_BLOK_EN.pdf Declaration of Interests] - website of the [[European Court of Auditors]]
17. [https://news.err.ee/837775/king-of-netherlands-to-visit-estonia-next-week King of Netherlands to visit Estonia next week] - website of the Estionian public radio and television organisation [[Eesti Rahvusringhääling]]
18. [https://president.ee/et/ametitegevus/otsused/2896-265-riiklike-autasude-andmine] - website of the [[President of Estonia]]