Kateryna Girnyk22:49, 12.07.24

The MH17 crash was “a turning point in our relations with Russia,” Dutch officials say.

After the downing of flight MH17 in Donbas, the Netherlands seriously considered military intervention as one of the response options. This is written by the Dutch publication Nieuwsuur , referring to the statements of high-ranking officials.

It was noted that in the first days after the crash of flight MH17, the Netherlands deliberately chose not to publicly condemn Russia in order to avoid obstacles to the repatriation of the bodies of the dead and to force Russia to support the UN resolution, which supported an independent investigation, trial of the perpetrators and cooperation at the crash site.

“We made a conscious internal decision not to point to Russia at the outset,” says Wim Geerts, the director general for political affairs at the Foreign Ministry at the time. – “The most important thing was not to push Russia away.”

As soon as the bodies were repatriated, the Dutch position became tougher, officials said, adding that the MH17 disaster was “a turning point in our relations with Russia.”

Speaking to Nieuwsuur, senior officials confirmed reports that the Netherlands was seriously considering military intervention in the disaster area.

“The former commander of the armed forces, Tom Middendorp, said that “this was a very real option”, explaining that the Australian special forces were flown in and trained together with the Dutch commandos,” the newspaper writes.

The current Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, also confirmed that the country “really developed and considered the possibility of such an option.”

But he also emphasized that this was an extreme option, and the decision to introduce troops would hardly be made on emotions.

(C)UNIAN 2024