The Benelux Union or Benelux is a politico-economic union,alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe:Belgium,the Netherlands,and Luxembourg. The name is a portmanteau formed from joining the first few letters of each country's name and was first used to name the customs agreement that initiated the union. It is now used more generally to refer to the geographic,economic,and cultural grouping of the three countries.
Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer is a Dutch retired politician,jurist and diplomat who served as the eleventh Secretary General of NATO from January 2004 to August 2009. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA),which he led from March 1997 to October 2001,he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 2002 until December 2003 under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
Bernard Rudolf "Ben" Bot is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA),he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2007 in the second and third cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende. A career ambassador,he succeeded then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who resigned to become Secretary General of NATO.
Didier Reynders is a Belgian politician and a member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) that served as European Commissioner for Justice until 30 November 2024. He held various positions in public institutions before becoming a member of the House in 1992. Until resigning to become the Belgian European Commissioner Reynders had been a minister continuously from 1999 to 2019.
Yaşar Yakış was a Turkish politician. He was a Foreign Minister,and an ambassador to the UN Office in Vienna,Egypt,and Saudi Arabia. From 2002 to 2011 he represented Düzce as an MP in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He was a member of the Justice and Development Party,the leading political party in Turkey at the moment and he was the chair of the European Union Harmonization Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He received the French Légion of Honour.
Bruno Le Maire is a French politician,writer,and former diplomat who served as Economy and Finance Minister from 2017 to 2024 under President Emmanuel Macron.
Bernard Tilakaratna,SLOS (1927–2004) was a senior diplomat and bureaucrat of the Sri Lankan government. He was an ambassador to many countries and prior to retirement was the permanent secretary to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sayyid Abbas Araghchi is an Iranian diplomat and politician,who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran since August 2024. He previously served as the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Ambassador to Finland and the Ambassador to Japan.
Catherine Colonna is a French diplomat and politician who served as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne from May 2022 to January 2024.
Wu Hongbo is a Chinese diplomat. Until July 2017 he was the Under-Secretary-General in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. He replaced Sha Zukang as the head of DESA.
Marija PejčinovićBurić is a Croatian politician of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union party who served as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia from 2017 to 2019. She was the third woman to hold the post of foreign minister,following Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovićand Vesna Pusić. PejčinovićBurićpreviously served as a Member of Parliament during its Sixth Assembly (2008–2011),representing the 6th electoral district.
Franciskus Romanus Rumoldus,Baron van Daele is a Belgian diplomat who served as the private secretary of His Majesty's Cabinet.
Koutoub Moustapha Sano is a politician and academic from Guinea. He served as minister of the office of the president of Guinea and diplomatic advisor to the president. He holds a doctorate in law.
Juan Pablo García-Berdoy is a Spanish diplomat and lawyer who served as the 8th Ambassador Permanent Representative of Spain to the European Union from 2016 to 2021. Previously,he has served as ambassador of Spain to Romania,Moldova and Germany,as well as director-general in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
David Clarinval is a Belgian politician of the Reformist Movement who has been serving as Minister of Labour and Economy in the De Wever government since February 2025. Additionally he was been serving as Minister of Agriculture since Ocotber 2020 in both the De Croo government and the De Wever government. Before that he served as Minister of the Middle Class,SMEs,Self-employed,Social Integration and Urban Policy in the De Croo government.
Marcos Bezerra Abbott Galvão is a Brazilian diplomat,current Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and former Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels,Belgium. From 22 February 2017 to 7 March 2017,Galvão was Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Ahmed Shiaan is a Maldivian diplomat who served as the State Secretary,Chief of Protocol and State Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives. He was appointed when the Solih administration took office on 26 March 2018. Shiaan served as the Maldives Ambassador the European Union (EU),Netherlands,United Kingdom (UK),Belgium,and Luxembourg before his appointment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a fluent speaker of Dhivehi,English,German and Hindi.
The De Croo Government was the Federal Government of Belgium,led by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo from 1 October 2020 to 3 February 2025. It acted in a caretaker capacity from the resignation of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on 10 June 2024,following the 2024 Belgian federal election,until the formation of the next government.
Hadja Lahbib is a Belgian journalist,television presenter,director and politician,who has been serving as the European Commissioner for Preparedness,Crisis Management and Equality since the 1st of December,2024. Prior to that,she served as the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 2022 to 30th November,2024.
