Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of The Netherlands, presented a policy address on transatlantic relations on Monday, March 15, 2004 in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall on the Princeton University campus. The lecture was co-sponsored by LISD and the Woodrow Wilson School.

The Netherlands took over take over the presidency of the European Union on July 1, 2004 and, in this new role as President of the European Union, as well as in his role as head of the government in The Netherlands, Prime Minister Balkenende spoke about what he believes to be of vital need for the cooperation between the EU and the United States.

While on his visit in Princeton, Prime Minister Balkenende received the Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary. He  also met with President Bush and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during his visit to the United States.

Prime Minister Balkenende is a member of the Christian Democratic Party and is a noted jurist and an economic moralist. In his political career, he has addressed issues including the place of Jewish-Christian values in the European community, the status of illegal immigrants in The Netherlands, the problem of school violence, and the modernization of the Dutch healthcare system.