Dutch foreign minister calls Russia an enemy after MPs press him

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen called Russia an enemy after opposition MPs pressed him about Defence Minister Dilan Yesilgöz’s use of the term, the ANP news agency reported on 8 October. Yesilgöz had used it during consideration of her budget in the Dutch parliament’s lower house. Berendsen said the choice of word would not change government policy. [1]

Berendsen said he had not been told in advance that Yesilgöz would use the description, but stressed that she had spoken on behalf of the cabinet. Asked by SP MP Sarah Dobbe about its significance, he said the EU and Nato regarded Russia as the greatest threat. He also said Russia was increasingly using hostile language, while the Netherlands was not at war.

PRO MP Kati Piri questioned whether the foreign minister should oversee such descriptions, saying words mattered in diplomacy. Berendsen replied that the designation was a matter for the cabinet as a whole. He suggested previous cabinets might also have used the term, but did not establish whether they had.