Wopke_Hoekstra--Louis_Joseph_Maria_Beel

Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɔpkə ˈbɑscaːn ˈɦukstraː]; born 30 September 1975) is a Dutch politician. He served as second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the fourth Rutte cabinet between 10 January 2022 and 1 September 2023. Hoekstra previously served as Minister of Finance in the third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 2022 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) from 2020 to 2023. In 2023, he was nominated to take on the role of Frans Timmermans as EU Commissioner, being responsible for climate action; a petition was started against Hoekstra's nomination due to his past work for Shell and his decisions that backed oil explorations in the Netherlands.