Bert Koenders live on Dutch radio BNR de Wereld
Bert Koenders, Professor Peace, Justice and Security at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) appeared live on the ‘BNR de Wereld’ special broadcast ‘De Grote Vredesshow’ (The Great Peace Show). The radio show was hosted live from Wijnhaven in collaboration with the Faculty Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA).
In an exposé by Dutch television programme ‘Nieuwsuur’ and Dutch newspaper ‘Trouw’ former minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders was accused of having supplied Jihadists. During the BNR de Wereld live show, Koenders commented for first time on these accusations since he stepped down as minister. ‘We have not provided guns. Everybody knows that we have provided what is known as non-lethal assistance,’ says Koenders.
NATO contribution
‘As international community, we have failed in Syria in every possible way,’ says Koenders. He believes the Netherlands were right not to have intervened militarily. Koenders believes that the Dutch contribution as part of the NATO operations in Syria was responsible and necessary. ‘It was also effective at the time, but only until the Russians intervened.’
You can read the full article (in Dutch) on the BNR website.