Belgium's first socialist prime minister: Who is Paul-Henri Spaak?
He became one of the main advocates of the European Union. He played an important role in the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Benelux Economic Union, published the Spaak Report, and established the basic policies of the European Economic Community.
Belgian lawyer and statesman Paul-Henri Spaak was born on January 25, 1899. (Death: July 31, 1972) He studied law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he worked as a lawyer in Brussels and made a name for himself by defending communists accused of conspiring against the security of the country.
He entered the House of Representatives from the Socialist Party in 1932. He became Belgium's first socialist prime minister in 1938. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1940 and 1944. He participated in the preparatory work for the United Nations Charter in 1945. In 1946, he competed in the General Assembly presidential election against Trygve Halvdan Lie, who later became the first secretary-general of the UN, and assumed the presidency of the organization's first general assembly.
Paul-Henri Charles Spaak (25 January 1899 – 31 July 1972) was an influential Belgian Socialist politician, diplomat and statesman who thrice served as the prime minister of Belgium and later as the second secretary general of NATO. Along with Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer he was a leader in the formation of the institutions that evolved into the European Union.
He became the prime minister of the Social Christian-Socialist coalition government, which gave women the right to vote and be elected, and took the Central Bank under state control.
In 1948, the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Brussels, establishing a regional defense alliance between France and the Benelux countries.
He became one of the main advocates of the European Union. He played an important role in the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Benelux Economic Union, published the Spaak Report, and established the basic policies of the European Economic Community.
He took an active role in the Treaties of Rome (1957), which laid the foundations of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). Between 1948 and 1952, he served as the first president of organizations that envisioned political and economic cooperation of European countries and of the European Parliament. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs again between 1954 and 1957.
He served as NATO secretary general between 1957 and 1961.
He signed the Ankara Agreement on the Partnership between Turkey and the European Economic Community, which was signed in Ankara by the fully authorized representatives gathered on 12 September 1963, as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Between 1961 and 1966, he served as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the coalition government of Théo Lefèvre, who was also a lawyer.
He left the Socialist Party in 1966 and started his academic life. He died on July 31, 1972.