Two weeks ago a majority in the Dutch parliament adopted a motion demanding the withdrawal of all Dutch troops from Uruzgan province in Afghanistan by December 1, 2010. The motion had the support of two partners in the coalition government: Labour and the orthodox Christian ChristenUnie.
Yet it seems the Dutch government has still not given up hope of keeping a Dutch military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2010.
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"You have to make the distinction between Afghanistan and Uruzgan. The parliamentary debate was only about Uruzgan. The motion is a fact, now it is up to the cabinet to make the next move. It is still open," defence minister Eimert Van Middelkoop told NRC Handelsblad in Bratislava on Friday. Van Middelkoop is in Slovakia for a two-day informal meeting of the Nato foreign ministers.
Pressure from Nato allies
The minister's words appear to be at odds with what the parliament decided two weeks ago. An extension of the mission is unacceptable, not just in Uruzgan, but elsewhere in Afghanistan too, Labour member of parliament Martijn van Dam said after the vote in parliament. "You can't withdraw from Uruzgan and start a similar operation somewhere else in Afghanistan."
The Netherlands currently has about 1,450 troops in the southern province Uruzgan, where it has been the 'lead nation' in Nato's mission since 2006. When the mission was last extended in 2007 the government promised the troops would come home in 2010 at the latest.
But the Netherlands has been under increasing pressure from its Nato allies to keep some kind of military presence in Afghanistan beyond the 2010 deadline, possibly as part of a joint Provincial Reconstruction Team for which Dutch soldiers would provide protection.
"What's important now is what Nato thinks about this, and how the international community will react," Van Middelkoop said. The minister said the impression he got from his Nato colleagues was that the Dutch withdrawal is seen as "a remarkable Alleingang, which is at odds with recent developments within the alliance".
Leaving a void
The pressure from other Nato members is still "subtle", the minister said, but he expected it to increase by early December, when the Nato foreign ministers meet. By that time the second round of the presidential elections in Afghanistan will be over, and US president Barack Obama will have taken a decision about whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Van Middelkoop: "I'm taking what I'm hearing here back to The Hague. I have been approached by various countries: Britain, Australia, the US. The Australians [who also have troops in Uruzgan] are particularly worried. They're afraid of the void that a Dutch withdrawal would leave."
