14 Facts About Halbe Zijlstra

Halbe Zijlstra is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

Halbe Zijlstra served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 26 October 2017 to 13 February 2018.

Halbe Zijlstra was born on 21 January 1969 in Oosterwolde in the Netherlands.

Halbe Zijlstra attended secondary education at vwo level and studied sociology at the University of Groningen, after which he worked for several companies.

Halbe Zijlstra has been a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy since 1 February 1994.

Halbe Zijlstra served as a member of the municipal council of Utrecht from 1998 to 2001, and again from 2003 to 2006.

Halbe Zijlstra was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2006 general election, taking his seat on 30 November.

On 14 October 2010, Halbe Zijlstra was appointed as State secretary for Education, Culture and Science in the newly installed First Rutte cabinet.

Additionally, Halbe Zijlstra initiated budget cuts in the culture sector, sharpening the conditions necessary to be eligible for government subsidies, and merging several cultural funds.

On 26 October 2017, Halbe Zijlstra became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the third government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Halbe Zijlstra said to a newspaper that he visited Putin in his home in 2006.

On 13 February 2018, Halbe Zijlstra announced his resignation as Minister of Foreign Affairs in an address to the House of Representatives.

In 2015, Halbe Zijlstra authored an op-ed for the NRC Handelsblad daily in which he criticized the Iran nuclear deal framework as "a historical error," a view that echoed Israel's.

Halbe Zijlstra has been an active member of a carrier pigeon club.