Various - Claes

Описание: (26 Sep 1994) STORY: CLAES
LOCATION: VARIOUS
DATE: FILE
DURATION: 2.27

Belgian Foreign Minister endorsed as Secretary-General
NATO ambassadors meeting informally in Brussels on Monday (26/9)
unanimously endorsed Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes as their
next Secretary-General. Officials said NATO foreign ministers
later this week would formally choose Claes to succeed Manfred
Woerner, who died of cancer in August. Diplomats said Claes' verve
for hard work and his diplomatic and persuasive skills will help
him to steer the 16-national alliance in the post-Cold War years
ahead. A Flemish socialist, Claes has been in charge of Belgium's
foreign policy since March 1992. He came to prominence
internationally last year during Belgium's much-praised, six-month
stint as president of the European Union. Claes chaired the
foreign ministers' meetings during the presidency. He and Prime
Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene oversaw the coming into effect of the
EU's Maastricht treaty on political and economic union. As foreign
minister, Claes is committed to the European Union and has been
deeply worried by the West's -- and especially the EU's --
inaction over the war in former Yugoslavia. He has also faced many
tricky diplomatic problems, especially in the former Belgian
protectorates of Rwanda and Burundi and in the ex-Belgian colony
of Zaire. A native Dutch-speaker who also speaks fluent French and
English, Claes has a moderate style that has won him trust and
respect on both sides of Belgium's language divide. Born on 24
November 1938 in Hasselt, northeast Belgium, Claes developed an
early interest in politics and became president of the Flemish
Young Socialists at the age of 17. He entered parliament at the
age of 30 and became a minister at 34.

SHOWS: (BRUSSELS, FILE) (3/10/93) Willy Claes and former EU
Commissioner Jacques Delors at presser on Russia. Claes (French)
SOT: (22/12/93) Claes and EU official Hans Van Den Broek at
presser on Bosnia. Claes (English) SOT: on international peace
plan. (29/10/93) Claes & Jean-Luc Dehaene with Spanish Premier
Felipe Gonzalez at presser during Brussels summit. (10/1/94)
Claes, Dehaene, President Clinton & former NATO Secretary-General
Manfred Woerner at NATO HQ in Brussels. (15/7/94) Ext. building.
Claes with French President Francois Mitterrand at extraordinary EU
summit. (11/6/94) Claes SOT: (french). (29/10/94) Claes and
Dehaene at European Council.

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