A majority of 80 MPs backs a compromise proposal by the left wing greens GroenLinks and D66 Liberals to sent a ‘sizeable’ police mission to Afghanistan to train local officers, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.
And the police trainers would be accompanied by soldiers to protect them, foreign minister Maxime Verhagen said, during Wednesday’s debate on the plan.
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said the proposal should make an end to the ‘deafening silence’ about Afghanistan since the cabinet fell over the issue in February.
Labour
Labour pulled out of the coalition because it opposed any continuation in the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan, despite US and Nato pressure on the Netherlands to stay.
Labour is not happy with the police mission plan either, the Volkskrant reports.
But Verhagen told MPs the slimmed-down option is a clear signal that the Netherlands is not abandoning the region.
Numbers
It is not clear how many police officers and soldiers would make up the mission. Earlier drafts of the proposal spoke of 50 trainers and 200 soldiers, but last night’s motion did not include any figures.
It is now up to the cabinet to draw up a formal motion, but it is not sure this can be achieved before the June 9 general election, the Volkskrant said.
The 1,800 Dutch soldiers and support staff in Afghanistan are due to begin withdrawing in August. Nato had called on the Netherlands to stay on past the deadline to train local troops.
