Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag announced her resignation on Thursday (September 16th) after MPs formally criticized her handling of the evacuation from Afghanistan.
Parliamentarians passed a motion criticizing the government for failing to evacuate some Afghans, and for failing to anticipate signs of the Taliban's rapid seizure of power.
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“
The chamber considers that the government has acted irresponsibly.
(...) I can only accept the consequences of this judgment as a minister bearing the ultimate responsibility
, ”the minister said in a statement to parliament.
“
In my conception of democracy and our tradition of government, a minister must leave if his policies are denounced.
I will therefore submit to His Majesty (King Willem-Alexander) my resignation as Minister of Foreign Affairs,
”she added.
The Netherlands evacuated more than 1,500 people from Kabul
Sigrid Kaag has made it clear that she will remain at the head of the center-left D66 party, which is in coalition negotiations with Prime Minister Mark Rutte after coming in second in terms of seats in the March elections. Mark Rutte called his resignation a “
great loss
” for the government. The Netherlands evacuated more than 1,500 people from Kabul, Dutch and Afghans, in the last days of August.
But many Afghans likely to be evacuated were left behind, including 22 interpreters, despite calls from lawmakers to evacuate them months earlier. Sigrid Kaag admitted that the Dutch government failed to anticipate how quickly the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, but pointed out that other Western countries have been in the same situation. Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld, although also targeted by a motion passed in Parliament, refused to resign. The resignation of the Dutch minister comes the day after the dismissal of British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, also because of his handling of the Afghan crisis.
