SP Member of Parliament and defence spokeswoman Krista van Velzen is “very enthusiastic” over the unexpected turn taken by negotiations, currently taking place in Dublin, on a new treaty governing the use of cluster bombs. Van Velzen, present as an observer at the diplomatic conference where the negotiations are proceeding, says that “many delegations wanted to make the proposed treaty even stronger, although the Netherlands wanted to weaken it somewhat. But after a week and a half of negotiations there was a breakthrough, a sudden realisation that without compromises there would be no treaty at all. Every participating country has now voted for a near-total ban on cluster bombs.”
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