Henri de Koster
 Henri de Koster    (businessman, politician) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | November 5, 1914 Leiden, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 24 November 1992 (Age 78) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Dutch | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Amsterdam University | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
TriBilderberg Dutch businessman, politician and friend of Prince Bernhard.
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Henri Johan (Hans) De Koster was a Dutch company director and politician. He was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1967 to 1971 and Minister of Defence from 1971 to 1973. A friend of the royal family and especially Prince Bernhard, he attended the 1964, 1965 and 1972 Bilderberg meetings.
Education
Hans De Koster obtained his bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Amsterdam. Then he continued his studies abroad.
Career
During World War II, Hans De Koster led the spy group Peggy. He already had good introductions to high officials at that time.
In 1946 he became director of the a flour mill owned by his family, just as his grandfather had already been. He was president of UNICE (now BusinessEurope, a European lobby and employers' union) from 1962 to 1967.[1]
He was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1967 to 1971 and Minister of Defence from 1971 to 1973 for the [People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD),[2] and together with Prince Bernhard conducted negotiations with the aircraft manufacturer Northrop about the purchase of the Cobra fighter.[3]
In 1972 was the presentation of the report of the Commission-Van Rijckevorsel in which a number of proposals were made about the Dutch army; strong reduction of the land force, transfer of Air Force tasks to NATO partners, construction of a training ground near Ter Apel and the first initiative for a 'volunteer army' (professional force).
After his period as minister, he was a member of the House of Representatives and foreign affairs spokesman for the VVD party group (1973-1977) and from 1977 to 1980 he was a member of the Senate. In the years 1975 and 1976 he was also president of the Benelux Parliament. Between 1978 and 1981 he was president of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe.
His personal archive, released in 2005, revealed that in June 1975 he broke the confidentiality of the private Standing House of Representatives Committee on defence and informed Prince Bernhard about the developments. He also managed to prevent an investigation of prince by means of a filibuster during a session of the committee.[4]
Family
His brother, A. D. ('Don') Koster, was a major shareholder of the newspaper De Telegraaf.
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1964 | 20 March 1964 | 22 March 1964 | US Virginia Williamsburg | A year after this meeting, the post of GATT/Director-General was set up, and given Eric Wyndham White, who attended the '64 meeting. Several subsequent holders have been Bilderberg insiders, only 2 are not known to have attended the group. |
| Bilderberg/1965 | 2 April 1965 | 4 April 1965 | Italy Villa d'Este | The 14th Bilderberg meeting, held in Italy |
| Bilderberg/1972 | 21 April 1972 | 23 April 1972 | Belgium Hotel La Reserve Knokke | The 21st Bilderberg, 102 guests. It spawned the Trilateral Commission. |
