Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders has urged nations who are seeking justice for the 298 people that perished when flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine to remain patient as the legal process continues.
Mr Koenders said despite the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) concluding that a BUK missile system transported from the Russian Federation had brought down the aircraft, it was too soon to "jump to conclusions” because the nationalities and culpability of those responsible for the attack were not yet known.
“Unfortunately, it’s too early”, Mr Koenders told a small group of foreign media, including SBS, at The Hague.
“Everybody wants to know ‘how will you prosecute?"
“We do not yet know the nationality or the nature of their crimes, and therefore there is no reason whatsoever to start with any specific prosecution against an individual or state.
“We want step by step, completely impartial and non-politicised (process to) bring those people responsible for this horrific attack in front of a judge.
“I understand they wish to find a better life, but that is not a reason to be accepted in the Netherlands."
“The next stage of the prosecution depends on the nationality of the persons (JIT) finds, the relationship we have with those countries in terms of extradition, and the legal instruments we have to prosecute them.”
Mr Koenders would not be drawn on the possible legal difficulties if a future prosecution involved military personnel from Russia, who may have been operating under orders from the Kremlin.
He confirmed he had summoned Russian Ambassador Alexander Vasilievich Shulgin to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the Federation’s “heavy criticism of the integrity of the investigation” following the publication of preliminary JIT findings last month.
“I think as the Dutch minister, I had an obligation to protect the integrity of the investigation,” Mr Koenders said.
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“We hope to come to a closure on the question of national or international (prosecution) as soon as possible. I mean, literally, as soon as possible. This is extremely emotional. It is a black page that we haven’t turned yet at all in the Netherlands.
“We will not stop until the people who are guilty come before a judge.”
Speaking with six journalists ahead of a State Visit to Australia and New Zealand with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima later this month, Mr Koenders said the Netherlands was a vocal supporter of increased trade opportunities for Australia with the European Union.
“You can count on the Netherlands, because international trade is a lifeline for this country,” he said.
“The Netherlands is a country that is outward looking so we are your allies, so to speak, in this endeavour to move forward with free and fair trade.
“We will definitely be a proponent for free trade agreements with both Australia and New Zealand.
“Free trade is a different thing now than 10, 20 years ago – it’s not only about tariffs and quotas, but it also deals with issues relating to standards and values.
“I think we have a risk in the global economy at the moment of rising protectionism.”
Koenders on Brexit
While the Netherlands “regrets” the United Kingdom’s impending ‘Brexit’, Mr Koenders believes Dutch voters would not back the country's exit from the European Union, a so-called ‘Nexit’.
“Europe is not yet a museum,” he said.
“We are not yet dead. And, we are not planning to (die) either.
“I think the European Union is still the strongest consumer market in the world, the largest economic market.
“Yes, there are issues, I’m not denying that Brexit is not a good signal, but I think this is because the demands on the European Union are different.
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“Before it was really creating an economic market, an internal market, now it deals with very hard issues that are very close to the sovereignty of nations.”
He said it was difficult to examine and understand how the UK's accession from the EU would affect other countries in Europe.
“We are all struggling to understand what does Brexit really mean for all of us,” he said.
“That it’s a loss politically, economically is clear.
“The question is to what extent?”
The Netherlands and immigration
There is perhaps more at stake in the Netherlands than the 26 other remaining EU nations.
Euroscepticism here is growing and five months from elections, the governing People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is trailing in the polls to the anti-Europe, anti-immigration, anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV).
Led by Geert Wilder (who had previously entered a coalition with Rutte’s party in his first term), the right-wing party promises the “de-Islamification” of the Netherlands, pledging to ban the Quran, close mosques, exit the European Union and halt immigration.
“They don’t want any immigration”, Mr Koenders said.
“They want to have a corridor around the Netherlands, close it off, and hope everything goes well. That will be a debate, no doubt about it. And they are pretty big in the polls.”
In fact, Party for Freedom is leading the polls with 22 per cent of the primary vote to the government’s 18 per cent.
“I’m not scared in the sense that I think there’s a return of history, not at all,” he said.
“I do think there is a rise in xenophobia and nationalism. If one million refugees are coming... obviously you have an issue that you cannot deny.
“The population’s distress last year was not so much the fact that refugees were coming to the Netherlands but that it seemed to be unmanageable. It was unclear ‘what are the limits to this? Is there a stream without any stop that is coming here?'”
He said the humanitarian crisis would not be solved “by hatred and by stigmatising”, rather campaigning for greater strengthening of Europe’s external borders and policies to help refugees “better integrate” in the Netherlands.
While he is aware of Australia’s “turn back the boats” policy, Mr Koenders was unsure if a similar program would be appropriate.
“Europe is first of all bound by international agreements," he said.
“We have the Geneva Conventions, we have the international humanitarian law. That means if people are drowning in the Mediterranean (Sea) they have to be saved.
“There are all kind(s) of dilemmas there, obviously. If you save everybody, they come on boat trips, so to speak.
“Nevertheless, we have certain standards we abide by and we should stand by.”
He did echo calls from other nations including Hungary and the UK for there to be a more determined effort to differentiate refugees and economic migrants.
“I understand they wish to find a better life, but that is not a reason to be accepted in the Netherlands,“ he said.
“They will have to go back.”
While not revealing specific numbers, he said the government was negotiating with western and northern African nations about the return of residents whose asylum applications were rejected.
While there was no denying Dutch politics has lurched further to the right with the rising popularity of Party for Freedom, the Netherlands remains one of Europe’s loudest liberal voices.
“There are many areas the European Union doesn’t need policies and perhaps should restrict its involvement,” he said.
“Of course there are issues with democratic deficit and constitutional issues that are criticised by our citizens… at the same time almost everybody you speak to knows (that) when it comes to security, both internal and external, and immigration, economics and jobs you need this European cooperation."
