In his speech, Zelenski referred to the Second World War and what the Netherlands had experienced there. “The shadow of the bombing of Rotterdam hangs over many European cities.”
He also spoke about the disaster with MH17, the aircraft with many Dutch people that was shot down by Russia over Ukraine. “Russia entered our country in 2014. You felt that when MH17 was shot at.”
At the request of Zelenski
The speech was made at the request of Zelensky himself, whose country was attacked by Russia last month. It is the first time that a foreign head of government gives a speech during a meeting of the House in the plenary hall.
The Netherlands supports the government in Kiev in the fight against the Russian armed forces. The cabinet is sending weapons to Ukraine and has been in favor of harsh punitive measures against the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the start. A large majority in the House supports this line of the cabinet.
Several other reasons
Zelenski has already addressed the parliaments of the United States, Italy, France, Denmark, Israel, Germany and the European Parliament last month. It is a way to thank the countries for their support and to ask again for help in the fight against Russia. The Ukrainian president will address the Belgian Chamber on Thursday afternoon.
Initially, Prime Minister Mark Rutte was not welcome at the speech. This week, Chamber President Bergkamp announced that he can come after all. In addition to him, she also invited the ministers Kajsa Ollongren (Defence) and Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs). Afterwards, there will be a debate in the House about Zelensky’s speech. Watch this live.
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