In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, looks at the various military actions led by WEU, in particular in strategic areas where the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was unable to act.

In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, recalls the military operations led by WEU in the Adriatic during the embargo imposed by the United Nations on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, emphasising the practical approach and how its actions complemented those of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, describes the interventions conducted by WEU in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular the police operation in Mostar from 1994 to 1996, as well as the reasons for the non-intervention in the African Great Lakes region.

In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, describes WEU’s role as the ‘defence arm’ of the European Union in carrying out the Petersberg tasks.

In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, answers the criticism levelled by some experts regarding the small scale of the military operations led by WEU.