Dutch diplomats allowed to leave Ukraine

Employees of the Dutch Embassy in Kyiv and their relatives have the right to leave Ukraine and return home amid fears of a Russian invasion.

That's according to Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra, Ukrinform reports, citing the NOS news site.

"Employees of the Dutch Embassy in Ukraine and their families may return to the Netherlands if they wish," the minister said.

According to the report, Dutch diplomats were allowed to leave Kyiv, while the EU is working on a significant package of sanctions in the event of a Russian invasion.

"It's a huge dilemma, because you don't want to leave too early. Then you potentially contribute to instability," Hoekstra said.

At the same time, he noted that "you don't want to leave too late either, because you don't want to endanger your own people, especially after what we saw in Afghanistan."

According to Hoekstra, at this time the Netherlands does not consider Ukraine dangerous and sees no reason for evacuation. The Dutch Embassy in Kyiv is operating as normal.

The Dutch government stated earlier that it was ready to provide military assistance to Ukraine due to the threat of a Russian invasion.

According to the Dutch foreign minister, "if there is such a request through NATO, we will treat it with understanding."

The majority of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands also supports the provision of defensive military support to Ukraine.

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