Yesilgöz calls Russia 'our enemy', Russian embassy demands the Dutch cabinet clarify

A word in the budget debate

On Thursday, during the debate on her defence budget in the Tweede Kamer, Defence Minister Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) said that Russia is no longer to be described as an aggressor. The line was part of her prepared speech, read from paper, and she called the word 'aggressor' a euphemism that listeners would not often hear from her again. For hours the remark went largely unnoticed in parliament and beyond, until it began to spread in the late afternoon. She added that the Netherlands is not at war with Russia, but that carefree peace is far away.

We must not be naive, Russia is our enemy. And no, that does not mean we are at war, but carefree peace is also far away.

The word was not what the foreign ministry had been using. Representatives of that ministry had initially avoided the term enemy, stressing that Russia remains the aggressor in its war against Ukraine. Yesilgöz justified her wording by pointing to a growing number of acts of sabotage, drone incidents and other threats in Europe, which she said show Russia testing the resilience of NATO states.

Friday walk-back and cabinet response

On Friday morning Yesilgöz told journalists that Russia is 'our biggest security threat', a description that drops the word enemy. Prime Minister Rob Jetten said he had not known beforehand of the term, and admitted that the cabinet does not always know at word level what will be answered in debates in the Tweede Kamer. At his press conference on Friday, Jetten nevertheless embraced her word choice and called Russia a hostile power. He also said that there is currently no acute risk of a direct confrontation.

There is no acute risk right now of a direct confrontation.

Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen (CDA) backed his colleague without repeating her wording. He said that the cabinet is on one line when it comes to the Russian threat and that everyone chooses their own words. Berendsen added that he had not been informed in advance of her intention to use the term, but that she was speaking on behalf of the whole cabinet. According to the government, the word does not change diplomatic relations, policy towards Moscow or the approach to the war in Ukraine.

Moscow and parliamentary criticism

The Russian embassy in the Netherlands responded on X, writing that the minister shamelessly reveals her wish to provoke an armed conflict with Russia. The embassy demanded that the Dutch government either confirm her words or distance itself from them, accused The Hague of provoking an armed conflict and threatened a firm response. Domestic criticism came from SP MP Sarah Dobbe, who called the statement 'irresponsible and dangerous' on X and suggested that Yesilgöz wants to become foreign minister or undermine Berendsen. Former NATO official Ed Kronenburg, a former ambassador and chief of staff to the NATO secretary-general, described the step up the escalation ladder.

Enemy is a qualification you use when you are in conflict with each other.

Experts split on escalation

Timo Koster, former NATO director of defence policy, said that a security threat or an aggressor is a power that poses a general threat, whereas an enemy is especially ours. He noted that the word enemy does not appear in NATO's most recent Strategic Concept, which describes Russia as displaying aggression. Koster also said that Slovakia and Hungary view the Russian threat differently, and he does not expect the term to cause much stir in Brussels. Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, had said in parliament last April that Russian imperialism is 'our enemy', which Trouw cited as an example from the east of the alliance. Kronenburg found it remarkable that a defence minister took this step rather than the foreign minister.

What the word changes

Yesilgöz told NOS that her word choice has no implications for Dutch foreign policy, and that she had only named things as they are on the advice of experts. Trouw recalled an earlier episode in February, when VVD politicians expressed 'understanding' for the American military action during the Iran war, a position that was not then the cabinet line while Jetten and Berendsen called for de-escalation. The article also points to Germany, which after a bomb drone in Leipzig now addresses Russia directly and punishes it for its involvement. Whether the Dutch cabinet and NATO partners adopt the term enemy remains open.