Jeanine Hennis-Plassschaert was Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Mark Rutte, from 2012 until 2017. She was the first Dutch woman to be appointed to the role and in 2015 was named most influential woman in the Netherlands. From 2010 until 2012, she served as a member of the Dutch House of Representatives where she focused on matters of public safety and security, police force, equality, fundamental rights, disaster and crisis response as well as emergency management. Prior to being elected to the Dutch parliament, she was a Member of the European Parliament, a post she held for 6 years, from 2004 until 2010. As MEP, she sat on the Committees for Transport; Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs; and served a member of the delegation for relations with United States. She served as member of the House of Representatives for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy from 2017-2018. In September 2018, Hennis-Plassschaert was appointed Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
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