Nieuws van de afdeling

23 December 2009

SP demands immediate information when civilians fall victim to Dutch arms

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel has asked Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop to ensure that he is informed immediately of any civilian victims of Dutch military activities in Afghanistan. Van Bommel’s demand follows revelations by national public television channel RTL, which used a request under the WOB, the Dutch equivalent of a freedom of information act, to obtain information which SP Members of Parliament have repeatedly requested. Van Bommel is also trying to find out if financial compensation paid to victims’ families compares with that paid out by other combatant nations.

21 December 2009

Spy-flights over Venezuela from Curaçao: SP demands answers

SP Member of Parliament and foreign affairs specialist Harry van Bommel is demanding an explanation from Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen regarding American espionage flights over Venezuela. The flights have for the last few weeks been taking off from the airfield at Hato in Curaçao, an island in the Dutch Antilles which remains under Dutch sovereignty. A Boeing RC-135 aircraft has flown daily missions into Venezuelan airspace. This has provoked the anger of the Venezuelan government, which accuses the Netherlands of contributing to existing military tensions between Colombia and Venezuela. “The Netherlands must dispel tension with Venezuela and promise that we will in no sense give our approval for any threats or sabre rattling.”

21 December 2009

By withdrawing, the Netherlands would be supporting Afghanistan

US President Barak Obama has elected to greatly increase troop strength, step up combat and then gradually withdraw from Afghanistan. Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop regards Obama’s failure to talk about an ‘exit strategy’ as a sensible decision. Yet an exit strategy is precisely what is needed in this hopeless war.

20 December 2009

What does a MEP make? Euro-MPs' salary and expenses unveiled

by Dennis de Jong.

18 December 2009

Centre-right votes against greater transparency in EU

The SP group in the European Parliament was today amongst those who successfully proposed a resolution calling for more openness in making documents available to the public, as well as to researchers and journalists. During the vote, the centre-right Christian Democrats, including the Dutch governing party the CDA, were almost alone in their opposition. Yet when the issue was debated earlier in the week the spokeswoman for the Christian Democrats, Renate Sommer, accused other political groups of using ‘underhand practices’ to block the resolution. “Her attitude is unworthy of a Member of the European Parliament,” says SP group leader Dennis de Jong. “That the CDA did not distance itself from such behaviour and that it voted against the Parliament’s transparency initiative is extremely disappointing."

16 December 2009

Senate: Justice Minister acted incorrectly in EU Council of Ministers

Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin acted incorrectly at the 30th December meeting of the Council of Ministers of the European Union when, on behalf of the Netherlands, he gave his approval to two EU decisions without waiting for the legally obligatory go-ahead from the Dutch national Senate, the ‘Eerste Kamer’ (literally, First Chamber’). By consciously ignoring its right to vote, Hirsch Ballin failed to respect the Senate’s constitutional role.

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