Europe

Home page

Europe

Dutch government collapses over Afghan mission

20 February 2010 17:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The Dutch coalition government collapsed Saturday over whether to extend the country’s military mission in Afghanistan, leaving the future of its 1,600 soldiers fighting there uncertain, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Press.â€

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced that the second largest party in his three-party alliance is quitting, ending an uneasy partnership. "Where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together. There is no road along which this cabinet can go further," Balkenende said.

The Dutch debate comes as opinion polls in many troop-providing European countries indicate growing public opposition to sending more soldiers to Afghanistan amid a global financial crisis and shrinking defense budgets.

Any Dutch withdrawal would be a worrying sign for NATO, which has struggled to raise the 10,000 additional troops that its top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has demanded to accompany the 30,000 American reinforcements being deployed there.

In another sign of the weakening commitment to the war, Canada is planning to withdraw its entire 2,800-strong unit from Afghanistan by the end of 2011. The Canadian contingent, the third-largest after the U.S. and Britain, serves with the Dutch in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

Dutch soldiers have been deployed since 2006 in Uruzgan on a two-year stint that was extended until next August, and 21 Dutch soldiers have lost their lives there.

Balkenende’s party wanted to keep a trimmed-down military presence in the restive province but Labor was adamant that they leave Uruzgan as scheduled. "A plan was agreed to when our soldiers went to Afghanistan," said Labor Party leader Wouter Bos. "Our partners in the government didn’t want to stick to that plan, and on the basis of their refusal, we have decided to resign."

The Dutch government split came after weeks of tension between Balkenende and Bos, the finance minister, mainly over Afghanistan. "The future of the mission of our soldiers in Afghanistan will now be in the hands of the new Cabinet," said Deputy Defense Minister Jack de Vries.

NATO recently sent a letter to the Dutch government asking if it would consider staying longer. Opinion polls suggest the Afghan war is deeply unpopular in the Netherlands. Labor, which has been dropping in the polls, appeared determined to take a stand with next month’s local elections in mind.

An election in the next few months could see a further boost for extreme anti-immigrant populist Geert Wilders, whose ranking in the polls rivals Balkenende’s.