Dutch politician of international renown, diplomat, and lawyer, born in Rotterdam, W Netherlands. He was in diplomatic service from 1940 (Berne, Lisbon, London) and was a member of the Dutch delegation to the UN in 194052. Brought into government by the Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP) in 1952 as minister without portfolio to assist the foreign minister, he served as minister of foreign affairs in a variety of administrations between 1956 and 1971. In 197285 he was secretary-general of NATO.
Joseph Antoine Marie Hubert Luns (Rotterdam, August 28, 1911 - Brussels, July 18, 2002) was a Dutch politician and secretary-general of NATO.
Joseph Luns was foreign minister of the Netherlands in the 1950s and 1960s. He refused to surrender western New Guinea to the Indonesian authorities until forced to do so by the Kennedy administration of the United States. He blocked attempts by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer to create a "Political Union" because it would have made the fledgling EU a Franco-German codominion in his eyes.
User Comments Add a comment…