The Hague- Former State Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Ank Bijleveld (CDA), on Friday has resiged as Minister of Defence of The Netherlands.

The Minister, who was quite instrumental in the preparation of the new constitutional status for -among others- Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba had come under fire due to the subotimal evacuation out of Afganistan of Dutch nationals and employees who had been instrumental for the Dutch presence, like interpreters and other personnel.

A day earlier Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigfried Kaag (D66) had also tendered her resignation for the same reason. Bijleveld intitally said she thought her continued tenure would be of more importance then her resignation, but this lead to division in her own CDA party. “This makes it impossible to continue to funcion well”, said Bijleveld, who said she felt very grateful to the men and women in the military, as well as her own staff at the Ministry for their suppor during the years since Bijleveld was first appointed Minister.