Dutch Defense Minister Resigns over Afghanistan Chaotic Evacuations

Dutch Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld resigns following the Afghanistan debacle. Her resignation came only one day after her fellow Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag stepped down on Thursday.

The Dutch parliament yesterday passed a motion of censure against both Bijleveld and Kaag for their chaotic handling of staff evacuation from Afghanistan in August. The Dutch government had received multiple urgent requests from its Embassy in Kabul, urging them to prepare for the evacuation of the national staff before the Taliban’s takeover of the capital. These requests were met with political silence, with the cabinet scrambling to make decisions regarding the logistics of the evacuations until the very last moment.

Under heavy criticism, the Foreign Minister admitted that the Dutch government has acted based on “wrong assumptions,” saying that the rapid advancement of the Taliban took them by surprise. 

Meanwhile, the Defense Minister refused to resign until her own party, the Christian Democratic Party (CDA), denounced her stay in office, pushing her to finally announce her resignation today.  

The two Dutch ministers are the first Western officials to take responsibility and resign over the US and its allies’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan during the Taliban’s power consolidation in the latter half of August.