The Netherlands Embassy in Egypt has named the country’s new Ambassador to Egypt, Han-Maurits Schaapveld, effective as of September.
Succeeding out-going Ambassador Laurens Westhoff in the post, Schaapveld has previously served on several occasions as his country’s representative abroad. This includes time as the Netherlands Ambassador to Burkina Faso from 2002 to 2006, as well as to Luxembourg from 2017 to 2020.
Before taking on ambassadorial roles, Schaapveld has held various positions at the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office between 1981 and 2002.
He went on to serve as the Director of Consular Affairs and Migration at the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2010.
This was followed by his taking the role of Deputy Head of Mission at the Netherlands Embassy in Paris, from 2010 to 2012.
Following a brief stint as the Project Director at a number of big conferences in the Netherlands, between 2012 and 2016, Schaapveld served as his country’s Chargé d’Affaires at the Netherlands Embassy in Beirut, from 2016 to 2017.
Schaapveld gained a Bachelors degree in Economics (International Relations) from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 1977, followed by a Master of International Law from the University of Leiden in 1981. He went on to work for the Netherlands Diplomatic Service at the country’s embassies in Nigeria, Malaysia, Senegal and Bolivia.
