© Agence France-Presse / Bulent KilicA photo taken on July 23, 2014 shows the crash site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, in a field near the village of Grabove, in the Donetsk region.
The Netherlands Government is resisting an effort by Dutch victims' families to find out
why Ukraine's Government, on 17 July 2014 — when the Malaysian airliner MH17 was shot down while flying over Ukraine's civil-war zone — this passenger-plane had been guided by Ukraine's air-traffic control to fly through, instead of around
(as it instructed other airliners), the war-zone. On 1 October 2019, now more than five years after
196 Dutch nationals had died from that incident, Holland's RTL News headlined (as autotranslated into English)
"Cabinet considers research into Ukraine's role in disaster MH17", and reported that "The cabinet will examine whether further research is possible on the role of Ukraine in the disaster with flight MH17," because "A proposal ... for the investigation received the support of all Parties present in the second chamber" of Holland's parliament. This news-report said that, "So far, the cabinet has not taken any steps against Ukraine. As far as we know, nothing is happening behind the scenes."
Furthermore: "Last year, the Netherlands, together with Australia, decided to make Russia as a country liable. For the liability of Ukraine, according to the cabinet, there was 'no evidence' and also 'no research needed'." Moreover,
Dutch Foreign Minister Stefan Blok said that "We don't see any reason for an investigation" into that, because "The government is trying to maintain its relationship with Ukraine," and "because then both the airspace of Ukraine and that of Russia should be looked at," and because "there are still no indications that Ukraine can also be held liable."
But actually, from the very start of that investigation, there has been a secret agreement not to blame Ukraine for anything having to do with the incident. This agreement is kept secret from the Dutch people. Blok, in resisting to investigate why the MH17 was guided over the civil-war zone, was simply adhering to the secret agreement that Netherlands had signed with Ukraine on 8 August 2014. If he were to agree to the families' demand, he still would be obligated, by Holland's 8 August 2014 agreement with Ukraine, to find Ukraine not to have perpetrated the downing. But the families don't know this.
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