Europe’s big influencer on Ukraine

The Dutch have played an outsize role in aiding Ukraine. Now they might set an example against Russian-style ethnic nationalism.

The Monitor's View

Small in number – only 18 million people – the Dutch have been one of Ukraine’s biggest backers in the war against Russia. Last month, for example, they led Europe by promising to deliver dozens of their F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv. They have led in trying to hold Russia accountable for war crimes at the international courts based in the Netherlands. Soon they may lead by example on a more intangible front, countering one of Moscow’s justifications for the invasion: that Ukraine is bound to Russia by ethnic nationalism.

The Dutch example could be this: A former Kurdish refugee from Turkey, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, is the main contender to become the next prime minister after an election on Nov. 22. Her family, from a minority in Turkey, fled repression in the 1980s when she was 8 years old.

As the current Dutch justice minister, she has pushed against politics “centered on where you were born.” Her favorite book is “Militant Democracy: The Limits of Democratic Tolerance” by Dutch professor Bastiaan Rijpkema. Her two degrees are in culture management.

If her People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy prevails in the election and Ms. Yeşilgöz-Zegerius leads a multiparty government coalition, it will reaffirm the European Union’s main reason for existence – to prevent ethnic-based wars like those of the 20th century by creating a continentwide culture of civic ideals, from equality to the independence of EU member states.

Once a seafaring colonial power, the Netherlands has this unique feature: “It has the promotion and the preservation of the rules-based international order inscribed in its constitution as a task for the government,” points out Timo Koster, a former Dutch diplomat and a fellow at the Atlantic Council. “The Dutch are simply compelled to act in a situation like this.”

One reason for the Dutch affinity with Ukraine is the tragedy the Netherlands’ own people suffered on July 17, 2014. A missile from Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine shot down a civilian airliner, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. A majority of the 298 who died were Dutch.

That Russian aggression, says the outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, was the most important moment of his political life. After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, “we have tried from the start to do whatever we could – and also nudging others to do more,” he said.

Now his party has chosen Ms. Yeşilgöz-Zegerius to succeed him. The Dutch may again help Europe reinforce the peace it has long enjoyed, a peace based on universal ideals rather than ethnic identities.