Dutch foreign minister quits over Afghanistan evacuations

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch foreign minister, Sigrid Kaag, resigned Thursday after the lower house of parliament passed a motion of censure against the government over its handling of evacuations from Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover.

In a parliamentary debate Wednesday night, Kaag acknowledged that the government's slow or muddled response to warnings about the situation in Afghanistan meant some local staff and people who had worked as translators for Dutch troops in the country had not been evacuated.

After the motion was passed Thursday, Kaag immediately said she would tender her resignation, saying that parliament had decided “that the Cabinet has acted irresponsibly.”

"I can only accept the consequences of this judgment as the minister with ultimate responsibility,” she added.

Kaag was a minister in a caretaker Dutch government that is in power amid drawn-out negotiations to form a new ruling coalition following a general election in March.