The people who had wanted to lead the Netherlands away from Kabul did not get the chance to board the plane that landed there on Tuesday evening. That said the outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag. There was too little time and the Americans also do not allow Afghans at the airport. "Hopefully there will be an improvement in this situation tomorrow."
The plane, which was partly sent to Kabul by the Netherlands, had only been on the ground for half an hour when it had to take off again. “A lot of people were there with their families, with their children. They were standing there at the gates of the airport. I think it's awful.” The minister says he is in consultation with the Americans to prevent something like this from happening again. She says she will also discuss the matter with her German counterpart Heiko Maas on Wednesday.
The Netherlands is dependent on the American armed forces because they control the airport. The US does not allow Afghans at the airport for the time being, which means that the interpreters and their families, for example, would not be able to enter. However, due to the time pressure and the chaotic situation at and around the airport, it was not possible to get the Dutch on board either. She hopes that the Dutch ambassador, who hopes to land at Kabul airport on Wednesday and start work there immediately, can prevent something like this from happening again.
Kaag does not want to criticize the way the Americans handle things at the airport. "It is very difficult to guess from The Hague what should happen at Kabul airport," she said. “We beg modesty. But what we're doing now is applying pressure in every way, getting clarity and making sure everyone we want to evacuate is evacuated."
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