Rutte tells UN the national pain of MH17

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York Thursday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the tragedy of MH17 is felt throughout the country, and that The Netherlands will not rest until there is justice, the Algemeen Dagblad reports. The PM said that everyone in The Netherlands knew someone, directly or indirectly, who died in that crash. "The Netherlands will feel the pain for years." He said that 298 passengers would still be alive today "if there was not a conflict in the east of Ukraine. The Netherlands wants to make sure that all possessions of the victims and the remains are returned." This was the first time that the Dutch Prime Minister spoke at the General Assembly. Rutte made justice a general theme of his speech, noting that the international legal order is anchored in the Dutch constitution. "Culprits have to be tried. Whether it's about MH17 or the situation in Syria and Iraq. However complicated it is." The Netherlands aspires to a seat in the UN Security Council before 2018, which The Netherlands has announced before. Rutte emphasized that this may make the UN Security Council function more effectively.