Ank Bijleveld facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ank Bijleveld
Bijleveld in 2018
Mayor of Almere
Acting
Assumed office 10 January 2022
Preceded by	Franc Weerwind
Minister of Defence
In office 26 October 2017 – 17 September 2021
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Klaas Dijkhoff
Succeeded by	Ferdinand Grapperhaus (acting)
King's Commissioner of Overijssel
In office 1 January 2011 – 26 October 2017
Monarch	Beatrix Willem-Alexander
Preceded by	Geert Jansen
Succeeded by	Andries Heidema
State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations
In office 22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Rob Hessing
Succeeded by	Raymond Knops (2017)
Mayor of Hof van Twente
In office 1 January 2001 – 22 February 2007
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Hans Kok
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 17 June 2010 – 1 January 2011
In office 16 November 1989 – 16 January 2001
Personal details
Born	Anna Theodora Bernardina Schouten (1962-03-17) 17 March 1962 (age 63) IJsselmuiden, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse	Riekele Bijleveld ​ (m. 1984)​
Children	2
Education	University of Twente (BPA, MPA)

Ank Bijleveld (born 17 March 1962) is a Dutch politician. She is currently the acting mayor of Almere. From 2017 to 2021, she was the Minister of Defence for the Netherlands. This is a very important job, like being in charge of the country's army and navy.

Ank Bijleveld has held many important roles in the Dutch government. She was a member of the House of Representatives (like the parliament) for many years. She also served as the mayor of Hof van Twente. Later, she became a State Secretary for the Interior. She also worked as the King's Commissioner for the province of Overijssel.

Early Life and Education

Ank Bijleveld was born in Overijssel, a province in the Netherlands. She studied public administration at the University of Twente from 1980 to 1986. Public administration is about how governments are organized and how they work.

Political Career

Ank Bijleveld started her political journey in 1986. She became a member of the local council in Enschede for the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party.

She then became a member of the House of Representatives. This is where laws are made for the whole country. She served there from 1989 to 2001. After that, she became the Mayor of Hof van Twente in 2001. She was mayor until 2007.

In 2007, she became a State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations. This job involves helping to manage the country's internal affairs. She held this role until 2010. She returned to the House of Representatives briefly in 2010. Then, in 2011, she became the King's Commissioner for Overijssel. This role is like being the King's representative in a province.

Minister of Defence (2017–2021)

In 2017, Ank Bijleveld was chosen to be the Minister of Defence. This meant she was in charge of the Dutch military. She left her role as King's Commissioner to take on this new challenge.

During her time as Minister of Defence, she worked on important national security matters. For example, she helped with efforts to stop a cyberattack by Russian agents in 2018. This attack targeted the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an organization that works to stop the use of chemical weapons.

There was also a lot of discussion in parliament about an air raid in Iraq from 2015. Dutch planes had bombed a weapons storage site, and it was later found that civilians had died. Bijleveld faced questions about when the government knew about these civilian deaths. She explained the situation to the House of Representatives.

Ank Bijleveld resigned from her role as Minister of Defence in September 2021. This happened after a debate in the House of Representatives about how the government handled the evacuation from Afghanistan.

Personal Life

Ank Bijleveld married Riekele Bijleveld in 1984. They have two daughters. Her husband has also been involved in local politics. Ank Bijleveld is a Roman Catholic.