Ceturtdien, 10. oktobrī notika Nīderlandes Karalistes ārlietu ministra Fransa Timmermana (Frans Timmermans) publiskā lekcija „Latvija un Nīderlande: partneri Eiropā" par Eiropas nākotni un eiro. Lekciju rīkoja Nīderlandes Karalistes vēstniecība Rīgā sadarbībā ar Latvijas Ārlietu ministriju un Stokholmas Ekonomikas augstskolu Rīgā.
Frans Timmermans began his career in 1987 as an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, where he participated in the induction course for diplomats. He subsequently worked as a policy officer in that ministry’s European Integration Department from 1988 to 1990. That year, he was appointed Second Embassy Secretary at the Dutch embassy in Moscow.
After a brief period back in The Hague, as deputy head of the Minister for Development Cooperation’s EC Affairs Section, Mr Timmermans became a member of the staff of European Commissioner Hans van de Broek. He later became adviser and private secretary to Max van der Stoel, the High Commissioner on National Minorities for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
From 1998 he was a member of the House of Representatives for the Labour Party (PvdA). In that capacity, he dealt principally with foreign affairs. He was chair of the Permanent Committee on Economic Affairs and represented the House of Representatives in the European Convention.
In the fourth Balkenende government, from February 2007 to February 2010, Mr Timmermans was Minister for European Affairs. After the fall of that government he returned to the House as the PvdA’s spokesperson on foreign policy. On 5 November 2012 Mr Timmermans was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Rutte-Asscher government.