The images are etched in our memory.
Military cargo planes that land at Eindhoven Airport.
Hundreds of casualties being carried outside in coffins...
under the watchful eye of the King and Queen.
Then, an endless hearse procession on the A2 is on its way to Hilversum...
to the Van Oudheusden Barracks.
Here, the identification takes place...
of victims from civil aircraft MH17, that was shot down while flying over Ukraine.
All 298 passenger and crew died on 17 July 2014.
Among them 196 Dutch people...
and nine people of other nationalities living in our country.
This happened nearly ten years ago.
Today, the Netherlands Court of Audit publishes the assessment...
into the costs made by the government concerning the tragic event of MH17.
An assessment requested by the Prime Minister on behalf of the government...
into the Dutch legal proceedings against the Russian Federation.
In this context, I wish to emphasise...
that the pain of the bereaved cannot be measured by money.
This assessment is about costs made by ministries, municipalities...
and other government organisations, such as the national police...
the Public Prosecutor and the Dutch Safety Board.
It is explicitly stated that it only concerns costs from Dutch authorities.
And not personal costs made by the bereaved...
costs made by affected companies or costs made by foreign authorities.
We received a cost statement from 83 government organisations.
We assessed these according to the Supreme Audit Institutions norms.
Costs made between 17 July 2014 and the end of 2022...
that the Netherlands Court of Audit was able to determine, amount to 166 million euro.
In case of uncertainties, we did not include an amount.
These 166 million euro include crisis management costs...
made immediately after the disaster.
costs made for the repatriation
of victims and their identification.
And the costs made
for research by the national police,
the Ministry of Defence, the Dutch Safety Board, and the Public Prosecutor.
Because of this, and by the trial in The Hague,
the facts are brought to light.
And of course, costs due to the aftereffects of the disaster.
Costs the government makes for care for the bereaved...
contributions to commemorations,
and various ongoing legal proceedings.
We explicitly call this an intermediate balance.
Some costs will continue after 2022.
For example, trauma counselling for the bereaved...
or maintenance of memorials, for a special documents archive...
or advances the government recently paid to the bereaved...
on the damages that three offenders were sentenced to pay by the court.
Meanwhile, there are various ongoing legal proceedings...
about the violation of human rights and the liability of the Russian State...
for taking down flight MH17.
Costs to that end are also ongoing.
This is why the Netherlands Court of Audit will provide annual updates on this assessment.
So you, society, politicians and the state as litigant in these proceedings...
have the correct financial data at your disposal.