Willy Claes

Who is Willy Claes?

Willem Werner Hubert "Willy" Claes was the eighth Secretary General of NATO and a Belgian politician. He 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.

Willy Claes began his political career in the Hasselt city council. In 1968, he was elected to the national parliament. In 1972, he entered the 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 foreign minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1994, and secretary general of NATO from 1994 until 1995, when he resigned after the discovery of a bribe of over 50 million Belgian francs that was accepted during contract negotiations with Agusta helicopters during the time he was minister of economic affairs. For that he was convicted in 1998, losing voting rights for five years.