Dutch foreign minister urges Russia at UN to take responsibility for MH17

DutchNews, May 30, 2018

Blok takes questions ahead of the meeting. Photo UNTV

Foreign minister Stef Blok has called on Russia to cooperate with the investigation into the downing of flight MH17 three years ago at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.

‘In establishing what happened to MH17, no state has ‘the right to remain silent’,’ Blok told the meeting in a short speech. ‘It has a duty to cooperate constructively and shed light on the truth, not to obscure it with a continuous fog.’. 

Last week the Netherlands and Australia took a radical diplomatic step by formally holding Russia liable for the shooting down of the plane, carrying 298 people, most of whom were Dutch. 

Russia continues to deny all involvement and describes the Dutch-led investigation team as ‘political, not independent’. 

In his speech, Blok reminded the Security Council that shortly after the disaster, it unanimously adopted a resolution calling for justice. 

‘By voting for this resolution, all fifteen members of this Council, including the Russian Federation, voted for justice. They voted for ‘those responsible […] to be held to account’, and for ‘all States to cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability’,’ Block said. 

‘Unfortunately, four years later, these demands need to be repeated. Today, I re-iterate them again, supported by masses of irrefutable evidence.’ 

The EU and Nato have also urged Russia to accept responsibility for the incident.