International

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is extremely concerned over recent developments in Turkey, and has condemned the excessive police response to the demonstrators. ‘Last weekend the violence against the demonstrators in Istanbul and other towns and cities escalated still more,’ he says. ‘Now there’s even open talk of sending in the army against them. That would, however, be an extremely dangerous step. I’m calling on our Foreign Minister, Frans Timmermans, to speak out unequivocally against this when he visits the country on Wednesday.’

The European Parliament votes today on amendments to the existing European Union asylum agreements. ‘Yesterday I confronted European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström with the fact that the current Dublin system is falling apart and that she’s a great deal of work to do,’ says SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong. ‘She gave the impression, however, that she’s totally jaded and that proposals for a new system aren’t to be expected from the Commission. So they’ll have to come from the member states. That’s why a few months ago I offered Fred Teeven, Secretary of State for Justice and Security, a number of proposals with which he could get the discussion on this at the Council of Ministers in Brussels moving, so that the Netherlands could again lead the way in Europe on asylum and the Council could stop plodding along. These proposals were also discussed in our own national Parliament.’