Status: 09/17/2021 9:14 a.m.
The Dutch Foreign Minister Kaag has resigned as a consequence of the chaotic evacuation mission from Kabul. She admitted that the government had reacted slowly and haphazardly to the situation in Afghanistan.
The Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag has resigned after a sharp parliamentary reprimand for failing to evacuate from Afghanistan. On Thursday, MPs accepted a motion of disapproval blaming the government for failures in organizing the airlift. Shortly afterwards, Kaag announced that she would submit her resignation.
The parliament decided that “the cabinet acted irresponsibly”. As the “minister with ultimate responsibility”, she could do nothing but accept the consequences of this decision, said Kaag, referring to the motion for disapproval.
Parliament majority for disapproval
She had previously admitted in a parliamentary debate that the government had reacted slowly and chaotically to warnings about the situation in Afghanistan. As a result, some local staff and people who had worked as translators for the Dutch troops could not have been taken out of the country before or after the Taliban took over power in a flash, she said.
The request against Kaag had been supported by the Christian Union belonging to the ruling coalition, as a member of the party announced in advance. This resulted in a majority in favor of parliamentary disapproval. Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld, a member of the Christian Union, received such a reprimand.
The British Foreign Secretary also had to go
On Wednesday, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab lost his post as chief diplomat because of criticism of his handling of the Afghanistan crisis. The British government is also accused of not having saved enough people from Afghanistan. Above all, Raab was clearly criticized for not immediately breaking off his vacation on a Greek island when the Taliban came to power.