The new cabinet wanted to make a statement: the Netherlands continues to support Ukraine. The first call from Minister of Foreign Affairs Tom Berendsen (CDA) was to his Ukrainian counterpart. Together with the new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius (VVD), the first official visit went to Kyiv within a week after the swearing-in of the new cabinet.
But when the ministers stepped off the train in Kyiv on Saturday morning, the US and Israel had started a war against Iran. In between the busy program, there are constant consultations, statements are issued, concerns are expressed about Dutch personnel in the region and above all we wait to see how the attack develops. “You will be informed about it and we are in continuous contact with the partners,” says Berendsen. “But at the same time I always have the realization: wait a minute, I also want to remain focused on the people we speak to, because that is why we are here.”
Accompanied by one of her employees, Yesilgöz walks over the frozen piles of snow at Mykhajlo Square, where rusted Russian tanks are positioned. “I have to ensure that not only the cabinet, but also myself, stays afloat,” she jokes. As a politician she came to Ukraine once before.
The Netherlands is in the top five of countries that provide the most financial support to Ukraine, and the delegation is warmly welcomed. Berendsen and Yesilgöz’s program includes a visit to Volodymyr Zelensky in the presidential palace. Berendsen also goes to a hard-hit power plant and the Sofijivska Cathedral. Yesilgöz is updated about the drone war, visits a drone factory and an anti-aircraft site.
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The Netherlands supplied Ukraine with twenty-four fighter aircraft within the F-16 coalition. The Netherlands acquired these aircraft in the 1980s and 1990s. They have been used by the Netherlands in Bosnia and against IS in the Middle East, but are used very intensively in Ukraine to defend against cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and long-range kamikaze drones. The Netherlands continues to ensure that the aircraft can continue to be deployed – by supplying ammunition, spare parts and training maintenance technicians.
In Kyiv, Yesilgöz witnesses how Ukrainians commemorate their war dead
Photo Kostyantyn Chernichkin
The new cabinet wants to invest heavily in Ukraine again. More than 3 billion has been promised. Although it is possible that part of this concerns the amount already promised last year in the ‘Klaver motion’, of which 1.7 billion has not yet been spent.
To cover the costs, the government does not want to allow the budget deficit to increase. “That is not necessary,” says Yesilgöz. But a majority will still have to be found for the cuts that the government has in mind to free up the money.
Celebrating fans, in better times
Minister Berendsen last visited Ukraine during the Football World Cup in 2012, when Charkiv was a center for celebrating fans and Donetsk was still freely accessible. During this visit, he seems most impressed by the affected power plant just outside Kyiv.
As a Member of the European Parliament he already visited many power stations. But never before has he entered a rusty Soviet power station from the 1960s that has already been attacked by Russia about a hundred times and yet, thanks to relentless work, is still generating some energy. Inside, icicles hang from the water pipes, the pipes required for the process are kept warm against the freezing cold with an open fire. Ukraine would prefer to build a completely new, less polluting factory. But that was impossible during the war.
Berendsen is told that the administrators in the control room will remain at the controls during a massive rocket attack, to keep the energy generation running if possible. „It’s a problem“, is the understated comment of the Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Energy, Anatoli Koetsevol. Berendsen laughs for a moment. “Yes, that is a problem,” he says.
As he walks outside, Berendsen says: “Maybe I should introduce you to our State Secretary for Energy.”
“We are already in contact with that,” grins the Ukrainian.
‘Maybe the Netherlands was too naive’
The ties are therefore close, but the message of “standing behind Ukraine” is somewhat bitter now that the war is entering its fifth year. Even now that support for Ukraine remains steady, as Europe fills the gaps left by the US, it is still not enough to permanently fend off Russia.
“In retrospect,” says Yesilgöz, the Netherlands was “perhaps too naive” by breaking down its defense for years. She dismisses the suggestion that Europe could have helped protect Ukrainian power plants if a no-fly zone had been decided at the start of the war. “I was not at the table about this, but I also know that it has many consequences that you have to discuss. Because if it is violated, if you cannot answer all of them, it is still about our human lives.”
Berendsen in the St. Sophia Cathedral
Photo Kostyantyn Chernichkin
Iran continues to overshadow the visit. For Ukraine, Iran is an enemy, which provided Russia with the technology for the deadly Shahed kamikaze drones that Moscow regularly sends into Ukraine by the hundreds. In an interview with local media, Yesilgöz said: “I hope Iran loses some power.” What they are against NRC qualifies: “I’m not saying that what is happening now is the way to do that.”
The US halting arms support to Ukraine; the way Europeans are forced to pay for that support; the belittling of Zelensky; the red carpet for Putin in Alaska; the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president; and now a war against Iran without consultation with European allies. The new attitude of the American government on the world stage raises the question of whether Europe should let go of the US completely. It gets as cold as ice in the room NRC asks this question.
Berendsen: “No, America is a very important partner of ours, but certainly also of Ukraine, in the fight against Russia. A solution to this simply requires US support.” The Netherlands remains committed to keeping Washington on task, the minister says. “What the Americans need to get across their heads is that Ukraine is not losing.”
