View source for Willy Claes

{{Short description|Belgian politician}}
{{for|the Belgian Olympic weightlifter|Willy Claes (weightlifter)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Willy Claes
| image               = Willy Claes - Filip Naudts.jpg
| caption             = Claes in 2008
| office              = 8th [[Secretary General of NATO]]
| term_start          = 17 October 1994
| term_end            = 20 October 1995
| predecessor         = [[Manfred Wörner]]<br>[[Sergio Balanzino]] {{small|(acting)}}
| successor           = Sergio Balanzino {{small|(acting)}}<br>[[Javier Solana]]
| office1             = President of the [[Party of European Socialists]]
| term_start1         = November 1992
| term_end1           = October 1994
| predecessor1        = [[Guy Spitaels]]
| successor1          = [[Rudolf Scharping]]
| office2             = [[List of foreign ministers of Belgium|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister2      = [[Jean-Luc Dehaene]]
| term_start2         = 7 March 1992
| term_end2           = 10 October 1994
| predecessor2        = [[Mark Eyskens]]
| successor2          = [[Frank Vandenbroucke (politician)|Frank Vandenbroucke]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1938|11|24|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Hasselt]], Belgium
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Vooruit (political party)|Socialistische Partij Anders]] (SP.A)
| alma_mater          = [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]]
| children            = 2
| spouse              = Suzanne Meynen
}}
'''Willem Werner Hubert''' "'''Willy'''" '''Claes'''<ref>Decan, Rik, ''Wie is wie in Vlaanderen 2000–2002,'' Brussel: BRD, 1999.</ref> ({{IPA|nl|ˈʋɪli ˈklaːs|lang}}; born 24 November 1938) is a Belgian [[politician]] who served as the [[List of NATO Secretaries General#Secretaries General|eighth Secretary General of NATO]], from 1994 to 1995. Claes was forced to resign from his NATO position after he was found guilty of corruption, which was uncovered during the investigation into [[André Cools]]' death. Claes was a member of the [[Flemish Socialist Party]].

Claes was born in [[Hasselt]], Belgium. He graduated in political and diplomatic sciences at the [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]] (VUB).

== Political career ==
Claes began his political career in the Hasselt city council. In 1968, he was elected to the [[Belgian Federal Parliament|national parliament]]. In 1972, he entered the [[Council of Ministers (Belgium)|cabinet]] for the first time as minister of education. Between 1973 and 1992, he was minister of economic affairs of Belgium three separate times. He also served as deputy prime minister five times, and was an important negotiator in the formation of coalition governments during the 1980s.

Claes was [[Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] from 1992 until 1994 in the Government [[Jean-Luc Dehaene]] I, during which period he presided over Belgium's withdrawal from the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda during the [[Rwandan genocide]]. Belgium's withdrawal and the subsequent proposal by Claes of the withdrawal at the UN of all UN-Troops is thought<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9Tq_zbETHHwC&pg=PA188 {{aut|Frederik Grünfeld, Anke Huijboom}}, ''The Failure to Prevent Genocide in Rwanda: The Role of Bystanders'', p. 188]</ref> to have dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, leading to thousands of deaths.<ref>Sociologue et directrice émérite au CNRS, auteurs de nombreux articles sur le Rwanda, première personne auditionnée par les députés français de la mission d'information parlementaire sur le Rwanda - Citée comme témoin de contexte dans le cadre du procès de quatre Rwandais en Belgique en 2001, elle a déclaré qu'« Il n’y a pas de massacres spontanés de cette envergure. Il faut des dirigeants, il faut une organisation. » [http://www.assisesrwanda2001.be/050510.html Assises Rwanda 2001. Témoin de contexte : Claudine Vidal, historienne, sociologue].</ref>

Claes was also Secretary General of [[NATO]] from 1994 until 1995, when he resigned after the discovery of a bribe of over 50 million [[Belgian franc]]s (BEF), accepted at the time he was minister of economic affairs and connected to the defence contract negotiations with [[Agusta scandal|Agusta and Dassault]]. A criminal trial was handled by the Court of Cassation, which is responsible for cases involving minister in function. Claes received a 60 000 BEF fine, a three-year probationary sentence and a five-year prohibition on running for public office. An appeal at the [[European Court of Human Rights]] resulted in the confirmation of the Belgian sentence.

==Musical career==
Claes is known for being a pianist and has frequently performed concerts. Even as secretary-general of NATO, he had a piano in his residence to keep in practice.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_138046.htm | title=Willy Claes, 1994 - 1995 }}</ref>

== Honours ==
* Minister of State
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Leopold II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/showpage.cfm?section=/depute&language=nl&cfm=cvview54.cfm?key=00191&lactivity=48|title=De Belgische Kamer van volksvertegenwoordigers|publisher=dekamer.be}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
*[http://nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_138046.htm NATO Declassified – Willy Claes (biography)]
*[http://www.nato.int/cv/secgen/claes.htm NATO's Who is Who]

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Mark Eyskens]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Foreign Ministers of Belgium|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]|years=1992–1994}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Frank Vandenbroucke (politician)|Frank Vandenbroucke]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Guy Spitaels]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Party of European Socialists]]|years=1992–1994}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Rudolf Scharping]]}}
|-
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Sergio Balanzino]]<br>{{small|Acting}}}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary General of NATO]]|years=1994–1995}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sergio Balanzino]]<br>{{small|Acting}}}}
{{s-end}}

{{NATOSecGens}}
{{Navigation sp.a}}
{{Party of European Socialists}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claes, Willy}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Belgian male musicians]]
[[Category:Belgian male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:Belgian classical pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian pianists]]
[[Category:21st-century Belgian pianists]]
[[Category:Deputy prime ministers of Belgium]]
[[Category:Ministers of state of Belgium]]
[[Category:Belgian Socialist Party politicians]]
[[Category:Belgian socialists]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of Belgium]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Free University of Brussels (1834–1969)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Party of European Socialists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II]]
[[Category:People from Hasselt]]
[[Category:Secretaries general of NATO]]
[[Category:Vooruit (political party) politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Belgian conductors (music)]]
[[Category:21st-century Belgian male musicians]]