Dutch foreign minister quits after lying about Putin meeting

Dutch foreign minister quits after lying about Putin meeting | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - This is a Thursday, Nov. 16. 2017 file photo of Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs Halbe Zijlstra attends a press conference at the ministry of foreign affairs in Berlin, Germany. In a potentially damaging admission on the eve of his first visit to Russia as a member of the Dutch government, Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra has acknowledged lying about attending a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in 2006. Zijlstra made the admission in an interview published in respected Dutch daily De Volkskrant. He confirmed his comments in a written statement Monday Feb. 12, 2018. (Soeren Stache/dpa File via AP)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Dutch foreign affairs minister has resigned, a day after admitting that he lied about attending a meeting hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin more than a decade ago.

An emotional Halbe Zijlstra announced his resignation at the start of a debate Tuesday at which he was expected to be grilled by opposition lawmakers about the lie.

He says “the Netherlands deserves a minister who is above any doubt.”

Zijlstra, a member of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s centre-right VVD party, is the first minister to quit since Rutte’s four-party coalition was sworn in last year.

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