Political Committee- the Netherlands

Nato and the Dual Track Approach to Russia

Defence-Dialogue

Honorable chairs and fellow delegates,

As we all know, for more than two decades, NATO has worked
to build a partnership with Russia, developing dialogue and
practical cooperation in areas of common interest. Dialogue and
cooperation were strengthened in 2002 with the establishment
of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) , only to be suspended in
2014 in response to the Ukraine crisis.

The weak connection between Russia and Nato has its origins in
events such as Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea that
sent shockwaves through NATO or , suspending all practical
civilian and military cooperation. Factors like the continuing
presence of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol,the port which is a
major naval base divided up between Russia and Ukraine, has
been a focus of tension between these 2 countries. Russia has no
intention of reconsidering the annexation, as recent plans show
that the country has built a 60km fence on the border with
Ukraine . Another region in which is represented the issue of
Russia breaking international law is Georgia. The conflict
started decades ago, when South Ossetia claimed independence
from Georgia. By the summer of 2008, both were accusing each
other of a military build-up. Georgia was angered by Russia
strengthening ties with South Ossetia , while Moscow did not
like Tbilisi’s ambition of joining NATO. After the conflict with
Georgia, NATO froze most military and political cooperation
with Moscow. On 19 August 2008 NATO’s foreign ministers
declared that Russia’s military action had been disproportionate
and inconsistent with its peacekeeping role.
Now, in terms of national policy, the three main strands of
thinking that define Dutch foreign policy can be characterized
in short by the words trade and engagement. The history of
political, economic, cultural and strategic relations between the
Netherlands and Russia is long and eventful. Currently, the
Netherlands is one of the leconomic partners of Russia. But the
position of the Dutch government is seriously concerned about
the way Russia seems to be turning away from the international
legal order. The Nethelands usually follows the lead of its larger
allies or leaves it to decision making within the EU and NATO.
However, the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight ‚ among
which 196 people were Dutch citizens, has made it difficult for
the government to wait and see how its larger allies will react.
Before 2000, relations between the two countries diversified, as
the Netherlands financed projects in support of a plural
democracy, like the project to support improvement of civic
education in Kaluga Region. However, with the election of
President Putin, the window of opportunity for Western
countries to promote the transformation of Russia started to
close. A few years later, the Netherlands government itself
decided to cut back drastically on the funds available for social
transformation.
In this moment, Netherland’s first priority is to bring Russia to
the point of agreeing to a sustainable solution to the conflict in
Donbass, which is an armed conflict in the Donbass region
of Ukraine. From the beginning of March 2014, protests by pro-
Russian and anti-government groups took place. Since the start
of the conflict there have been more than twenty ceasefires,
each intended to remain in force indefinitely, but none of them
stopped the violence. The latest ceasefire came into force on 29
December 2018, and failed the same day. This will require a
combination of pressure and dialogue. For this policy to be
effective, NATO and the EU will have to continue to work in
concert. The question is not, as some people believe, whether
Ukraine will become part of a European or a Eurasian empire,
but whether it will get a chance to develop fruitful relations with
both the countries to its East and the countries to its West.

In conclusion, the Netherlands has proved itself a faithful and

active member of NATO and the European Union and a staunch
supporter of development co-operation. The prevailing view in
Dutch government circles is that because Russia and the
Netherlands share numerous interests, the challenge is to co-
operate in these areas without giving the impression that it can
be a peaceful relation as long as Russia continues to interfere in
Ukraine.