Hubertus Petrus Maria "Ben" Knapen is a Dutch historian and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 24 September 2021 to 10 January 2022. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he previously was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2012 and parliamentary leader in the Senate from 2019 to 2021.

The minister of foreign affairs is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers. The incumbent minister is Hanke Bruins Slot of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who has been in office since 5 September 2023. Regularly, a state secretary is assigned to the ministry who is tasked with specific portfolios, currently the function is not in use. Additionally since 1965 there has been a minister without portfolio assigned to the ministry, the minister for foreign trade and development cooperation has traditionally development cooperation as portfolio, since 2012 the portfolio of trade and export has been assigned added to the function. The current minister for foreign trade and development cooperation is Liesje Schreinemacher of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who has been in office since 1 September 2023.