Claes, Willy

▪ 1995

      Following the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and the subsequent dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) appeared to be an alliance without a mission. However, as the disintegration of the Soviet empire spawned a variety of separatist movements and the conflict in former Yugoslavia threatened to engulf the Balkans, NATO once again emerged as a significant international institution. In late 1994 a new leader took on the task of leading NATO into the 21st century. On September 29, following the death of Secretary-General Manfred Wörner (see OBITUARIES (Worner, Manfred )), the North Atlantic Council chose Willy Claes, the Belgian minister of foreign affairs, as the new secretary-general of NATO.

      Claes was an unusual selection as leader of the world's most powerful military alliance. A lifelong socialist, he had spoken out against the deployment of U.S. missiles in Europe during the 1980s and had been a senior figure in the Belgian government that had refused to take part in the Persian Gulf war. As a member of the European Union's Council of Ministers, he had also spoken strongly against Europe's ineffectuality in dealing with the conflict in former Yugoslavia.

      Claes was born in Hasselt, Belgium, on Nov. 24, 1938. After studying at the Free University of Brussels, he was elected to the Hasselt City Council (1964). A Flemish Socialist, Claes entered national politics in 1968 when he was elected to the parliament. He became spokesman for the Belgian Socialist Party in 1971 and was named minister of education the following year. In 1973 Claes accepted appointment as minister of economic affairs, and he was praised for his handling of the 1973-74 oil crisis.

      After his party's return to power, Claes again served as minister of economic affairs (1977-82). In 1979 he was also appointed deputy prime minister, a post he held five times. Claes developed a reputation as a talented diplomat, and he was enlisted by King Baudouin to aid in the formation of a coalition government during a period of political turmoil in the 1980s. In 1992, following a third term as economics minister, Claes became minister of foreign affairs. That same year, he was elected chairman of the Party of European Socialists.

      Following his appointment as secretary-general of NATO, Claes reaffirmed his commitment to the alliance as the bedrock of European security. By year's end, the war in Bosnia still raged and a new conflict had broken out in the Chechnya region of Russia. What role NATO would play in these conflicts was still open to question, but they both symbolized the type of confrontation that the new secretary-general would have to face in the future. (JOHN H. MATHEWS)

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