Hanke Bruins Slot

In this article, the surname is Bruins Slot, not Slot.

Hanke Gerdina Johannette Bruins Slot (born 20 October 1977) is a Dutch politician and military veteran who served as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations from 2022 to 2023 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2023 until 2024.^[1][2] She is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Hanke Bruins Slot
Bruins Slot in 2023
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 5 September 2023 – 2 July 2024
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Liesje Schreinemacher (acting)
Succeeded by	Caspar Veldkamp
Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
In office 10 January 2022 – 5 September 2023
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Kajsa Ollongren
Succeeded by	Hugo de Jonge
Member of the Provincial Executive of Utrecht
In office 5 June 2019 – 10 January 2022
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 17 June 2010 – 4 June 2019
Personal details
Born	Hanke Gerdina Johannette Bruins Slot (1977-10-20) 20 October 1977 (age 47) Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse	Mireille ​ (m. 2019)​
Education	Utrecht University (LLM, MA) Royal Military Academy
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of the Netherlands
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Army
Years of service	2007–2010, 2024–present
Rank	Major general
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan

Early career

Prior to her political career, Bruins Slot served in the Royal Netherlands Army; she was deployed to Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.^[3] In 2010, she was conferred the rank of artillery captain.

Political career

Bruins Slot meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels, 28 November 2023

Hanke Bruins Slot meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in December 2023.

Bruins Slot meets with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in The Hague, 8 February 2024

A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Bruins Slot served in the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2019. She focused her work as a parliamentarian on matters of defence personnel, local government, healthcare science, medical law, psychiatry and sports.

From 2019 to 2022, Bruins Slot was a member of the provincial executive of Utrecht, in which she was in charge of nature, agriculture, soil and water, sport and governance.^[4]

In February 2024, she stated that Israel's planned assault on Rafah was "unjustifiable".^[5]

In April 2024 the European Commission co-hosted a conference on "restoring justice for Ukraine" in The Hague. Significant contributors were Slot as the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba and the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders.^[6] The following month, Bruins Slot said that the Netherlands would not object if Ukraine used Dutch-supplied F-16 fighters to strike targets inside Russia.^[7]

She returned to the Royal Netherlands Army in February 2025, after her term as Minister of Foreign Affairs had ended, in the rank of major general.^[8][9]

Personal life

Slot was born in Apeldoorn and grew up in Winsum, Zeewolde, and Ridderkerk. She is married. Her father, grandfather and uncle have all been mayors.^[10][11]

Honours

• Spain: Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (9 April 2024)^[12]