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Former top soldier Arie van der Vlis passed away

Former Armed Forces Commander Arie van der Vlis died on Saturday at the age of 79 in his hometown of Rijnsburg. The Ministry of Defense announced this.

Van der Vlis was the highest soldier in the Netherlands from May 1992 to August 1994. In that position he had to deal with the government decision to send Dutch soldiers to what was then Yugoslavia.

He found, however, that the military were too lightly armed and not well prepared to protect the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, reports Defense in a press release. The mission was unable to prevent the fall of the enclave in the summer of 1995, resulting in an estimated 8,000 deaths.

Disagree with cutbacks

The former general resigned in 1994, because according to Defense he could not agree with the coalition agreement of the Kok I cabinet. Defense had to cut back nearly 1 billion guilders.

Van der Vlis started his military career as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy in Breda. On his retirement he was appointed adjutant in extraordinary service to Queen Beatrix.

After his departure, he remained active in the military world. For example, he headed the supervisory board of the Army Museum in Delft and was chairman of the National Committee for the 1945 Capitulation Commemoration of Wageningen.

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