A look at the Defence news 13 - 19 September
The Netherlands Minister of Defence, Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, has handed in her resignation to the king. Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs, had done so a day earlier. Both ministers stepped down following the parliamentary debate on the handling of the evacuation operation in Kabul.
Minister Bijleveld stated that she had initially wanted to stay on as minister in order to complete the task at hand, but had noticed that her decision to do so had become a subject of discussion. “Therefore, I can no longer properly take responsibility for my people”, she added.
A minister from another department is now temporarily in charge of Defence.
Stolen guns back in the Netherlands after 81 years
Germany has returned 2 guns from the Second World War to the Netherlands. On 10 May 1940, the guns were used in Delfzijl, province of Groningen, as a defence against the Germans, but soon the order was given to withdraw. The artillery pieces were brought to Emden as spoils of war shortly after this. The Germans had only ever used them as decorative items.