 He graduated in history at the University of Ghent(1968).From 1968 till 1975 he was a teacher of history in Congo.He started a career in Belgian diplomacy in 1975 and has been assigned from 1976 till 2000 to diplomatic posts in Barcelona, Nairobi, Islamabad, Rome (the Vatican), Dakar, The Hague, and both Kigali and Kinshasa as ambassador.