18-6-2023 (JAKARTA) The Netherlands has officially recognized August 17, 1945, as Indonesia’s Independence Day, marking the first time the country has acknowledged the date after 78 years. However, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte insisted that the legal transfer of sovereignty took place four years later, on December 27, 1949, and that the recognition would not change any pre-existing legal conditions.
Speaking at a parliamentary meeting on Wednesday in The Hague, Rutte declared that Amsterdam had “completely and unconditionally” acknowledged 1945 as the year marking Jakarta’s independence, adding that he would soon consult with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to discuss a shared understanding of the past event.
Rutte’s recognition is the latest attempt by the Netherlands to grapple with its colonialist past, following an independent investigation published in early 2022 on the decolonization of Indonesia from 1945 to 1950. After the investigation, Rutte offered Jakarta an apology for the “extreme violence” inflicted by the Dutch military during the studied period, including mass detentions, torture, and executions.
On Wednesday, the Dutch parliament debated the investigation’s results, with most members supporting it. Some even suggested that the 4.5 billion guilders Indonesia paid to the Dutch government in the 1950s, which would amount to 25 billion guilders (US$13.9 billion) in today’s currency, should be returned. However, Rutte dismissed these suggestions, insisting that his statement would not “change any existing legal grounds.”
The fact that the Netherlands has acknowledged 1945 as marking Indonesia’s independence, yet still insists that sovereignty was only transferred in 1949, means that Indonesia was independent but not sovereign throughout the four years in between, experts told The Jakarta Post. An independent country is one with sovereignty, and Rutte’s statement could be interpreted as an attempt to avoid the legal consequences that will inevitably come with stating 1945 as the start of Indonesia’s sovereignty.
“If Rutte had admitted that Indonesia was sovereign in 1945, this means that the actions of the Dutch military from 1945 to 1950 can legally be interpreted as an act of aggression, an occupation,” said Hadi Rahmat Purnama, an international law expert specialising in colonization at the University of Indonesia.
Despite the recognition, Rutte’s statements have yet to earn any significance beyond a mere public relations stunt without any legal consequences, according to Purnama.
