Editing Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (section)

=== Dutch Foreign Minister ===
The CDA won in the [[2002 Dutch general election|2002 general elections]] and played the leading role in the formation of a new coalition government. The new Prime Minister [[Jan Peter Balkenende]] appointed De Hoop Scheffer as foreign minister in his short-lived [[First Balkenende cabinet|first cabinet]], a position he retained in the [[second Balkenende cabinet]] after the [[2003 Dutch general election|elections of 22 January 2003]].

In 2003, the foreign policy of the Netherlands was largely determined by De Hoop Scheffer and Balkenende. Its main foreign policy decision was to contribute to [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]], although its formulation ("political" but not "military" support) gave it an ambivalent character. However, [[Royal Netherlands Army#Iraq|1,100 Dutch servicemen]] were deployed as part of the [[Stabilisation Force Iraq]] in the southern province of [[Al Muthanna]] from 2003 till 2005, and [[Casualties of the Iraq War|two of them were killed in action]].

In 2003 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was also the Chairman-in-Office of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]].