Toespraak van minister-president Rutte in de VN-Veiligheidsraad
Toespraak van minister-president Rutte op 24 september 2014 tijdens de bijeenkomst van de VN-Veiligheidsraad in New York. Alleen in het Engels beschikbaar.
Madam President,
The direct threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters concerns us all. Both our international and our national security are at risk. As a country of origin for such fighters, the Netherlands raised its terrorist threat level to the second highest level eighteen months ago.
But most alarming of all is the situation in the conflict zones themselves. Innocent civilians are victims of merciless violence. The threat is serious, and it calls for a serious response. This is a duty that rests on us, the international community. That is also the reason why today the Dutch government decided to increase its support to the international effort to stop ISIS by providing military means. We will provide F16's and military training and advice. In total we provide 380 men and women.
Last year, in the framework of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) the Netherlands and Morocco launched a joint initiative to formulate good practices in tackling the problem of foreign terrorist fighters. Yesterday, at the GCTF ministerial meeting, we presented the outcome: a comprehensive set of guidelines focused on every aspect of the foreign fighter threat. These recommendations cover not only counterterrorism responses, but also preventive efforts.
As co-leader of the Forum’s working group on foreign terrorist fighters, the Netherlands will promote the adoption of these good practices. We are open to working actively with all UN member states and UN partners on this issue.
The UN sanctions regime is essential to addressing the problem of foreign terrorist fighters. Sanctions are an important instrument for depriving terrorist organisations and fighters of their sources of finance. And sanctions could be tightened further. These sanctions, however, must be implemented and monitored properly. Or they won’t be effective in practice. We should, I believe, examine at UN level whether the monitoring and technical assistance provided to member states can be enhanced.
Madam President,
It is vital that the international community act jointly on this issue. The resolution adopted today and cosponsored by the Netherlands, sends a strong signal that we should stand shoulder to shoulder to confront the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters.
Madam President, thank you.