The future of the coalition government is in doubt on Thursday morning, after Labour leader and deputy prime minister Wouter Bos said he would definitely not support a continuation of the Dutch mission in Afghanistan, despite a Nato request.
Newspapers are united that the government is in trouble. 'The cabinet is in crisis, the collapse nears' is the headline in the Telegraaf following yesterday'sministerial meeting at which Bos restated his position.
'The last solider must have left Uruzgan at the end of the year. We are keeping our promise to the man in the street,' Bos told reporters after the meeting.
Cabinet meeting
Nato has asked the Netherlands to stay on for another year to help train local forces.
The issue will be formally discussed again on Friday but observers say behind the scenes frantic efforts are being made to shore up the coalition - already hit hard by divisions over the critical Davids report on Iraq.
CDA prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who wants to stay on, refused to say if the cabinet is in crisis after Wednesday's meeting. All the options are still on the table, he said. 'We have a major international responsibility to seriously examine the Nato secretary general's request,' he told reporters.
The Nato request was on the invitation of the Netherlands, a move which normally indicates agreement has been reached.
International role
Defense expert Rob de Wijk told Nos news it will be extremely damaging for the Netherlands if it turns down the Nato request after all.
A refusal would be insulting to the Nato secretary general and US deputy president Joe Biden. 'I fear we will have to pay a very high price for this,' he was quoted as saying.
'If you treat the secretary general of Nato with contempt, you can forget winning any high ranking jobs in Nato. So you won't have any influence any more. And that will creep through into other organisations, including the European Union,' he said.
The Netherlands has some 1,800 soldiers and support staff in Afghanistan, who are scheduled to begin pulling out in August.
Dutch News
