Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs resigns due to evacuation chaos in Afghanistan
September 17, 2021, 7:52 am

Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs resigns due to evacuation chaos in Afghanistan

Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag-Facebook-

The Xinhua news agency reported, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag resigned on Thursday for her role in the evacuation of local embassy staff from Afghanistan.

Kaag announced her decision after a motion of disapproval against her was passed by a majority of parliament.

Kaag said: "The House judges that the cabinet has acted irresponsibly."

She added: "Although I stand by our commitment, I can only accept the consequences of this judgment as the Minister with ultimate responsibility."

The parliament held Kaag responsible for not picking up signals from the parliament and from embassy staff in Afghanistan that an emergency situation was about to arrive.

According to the majority of the parliament: As a result not everyone could be evacuated in time and local embassy personnel ran into "serious danger."

There was also a lot of irritation about the late and incomplete provision of information to the parliament.

Officially, a minister does not have to resign following a motion of disapproval. The motion of disapproval against Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld also obtained a majority. But Bijleveld had already announced that she would remain as defense minister regardless of the vote, noting that "my priority is still to bring everyone who is still in Afghanistan to safety."

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.