““I see no other option today than to hand in my resignation to his majesty the King," said [Dutch Foreign Minister] Mr Zijlstra a day after admitting his lie.”.
[King Willem-Alexander of the Kingdom of the Netherlands]
Feb. 13, 2018, “Dutch foreign minister quits over lie about meeting Putin [in 2006],” BBC
“The Dutch foreign minister has stepped down on Tuesday [Feb. 2018] after admitting he lied about being in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin [in 2006].…During his campaign for the March 2017 election, Mr Zijlstra claimed he had personally heard Mr Putin speak of creating a “Greater Russia” in [a meeting in] 2006.…
“I see no other option today than to hand in my resignation to his majesty the King," said Mr Zijlstra a day after admitting his lie.”
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Added:
Zijlstra’s lie “was later used by his party to bolster Zijlstra’s foreign relations experience, which came into question when he took the cabinet position.” Attempting to boost his thin resume, Zijlstra falsely claimed he was at Putin’s home in 2006 and heard Putin say he wanted to expand Russia, make a “Greater Russia” to include “Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic States. And oh yes, Kazakhstan was ‘nice to have.” Zijlstra ominously added, “And he did not leave it at words.”
“Minister Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs admitted that he lied about meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2006. While speaking at a VVD conference in 2016, Zijlstra said that he heard Putin speaking about ‘Great Russia’ in 2006….Now he says that he wasn’t there himself…that a source told him about these statements.”…His alleged source who was at the 2006 meeting turned out to be former Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer. But Van Der Veer said Zijlstra “misinterpreted Putin’s statements given to him.…Van der Veer never literally said that Putin is aiming for a Great Russia again.…
The former Shell CEO [Van der Veer] adds, the “interpretation in an aggressive sense” was “not from me nor my use of words”.”…
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Added: Shell CEO “Van der Veer never literally said that Putin is aiming for a Great Russia again."…
Now it seems that Zijlstra’s statements about what Putin said at that meeting, were not quite correct. In an email to the Volkskrant Van der Veer confirmed that he spoke with Zijlstra about Putin, but that the Russian president’s statements about Great Russia were “meant historically”. “Historically seen, Great Russia is larger than current Russia”, Van der Veen said…
Van der Veer never literally said that Putin is aiming for a Great Russia again….
The former Shell CEO [Van der Veer] adds, the “interpretation in an aggressive sense”
was “not from me nor my use of words”.
Van der Veer is also confused about Zijlstra’s quote about Kazakhstan.
“I do not remember how I told Zijlstra about the specific countries at the time, but the term ‘nice to have’ is not something I’d say”, he said in the email….
Zijlstra admitted to lying about being at the [2006] meeting–to [allegedly] protect [Shell CEO] Van der Veer’s identity, he said–but insisted that [without evidence, strictly his personal opinion] his warning is real. [Meeting attendee Van Der Veer never heard] Putin [say he was] striving for a Great Russia, looking to gain power in Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic States, and Kazakhstan was ‘nice to have’, he said.”
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