International

Later this month Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UEA) to participate, along with a number of Dutch firms, in a major arms fair. On purely economic grounds this event would be of great interest, as for export of armaments this region forms an explosive growth market. Despite this, the Minister would be better staying at home. There are already huge numbers of weapons in the Middle East and the painful reality is that these weapons are pushing the region rapidly down into the abyss.

'Now that others are promoting confrontation, left forces in Europe must resist this and do our best to restore peaceful cooperation. The population of Europe does not want to see a new Cold War. We should listen to the people and actively answer those who irresponsibly dedicate themselves to building a new wall across Europe.’ These were amongst the arguments presented by SP Senate leader Tiny Kox, during a working visit to the European Parliament in Brussels.