Nieuws van de afdeling

28 September 2009

Albania ‘not yet ready for EU membership’

Albania is clearly not ready for candidate membership of the EU, according to SP Member of Parliament and European affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel. Van Bommel is urging the government not to cast its vote in the Council of Ministers in favour of agreeing to a European Commission request to establish an enquiry into Albania’s possible accession.

24 September 2009

SP wants to know: “Are Dutch troops coming home from Afghanistan?”

SP Member of Parliament and Foreign Affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel has asked Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen whether the Dutch government intends to hold to its commitment to withdraw the country’s troops from Afghanistan. Van Bommel’s question was prompted by concerns provoked by the minister’s statement, during a news programme broadcast on Wednesday by national radio, to the effect that in his view the Netherlands should give careful thought to the question of whether troops should remain in the Afghan region of Uruzgan after 2011.

17 September 2009

In Europe too, the ordinary citizen must pay for the crisis

17/09/09 Today, the European Parliament expressed its agreement with the reappointment of the Portuguese conservative Jose Barroso as President of the European Commission, with 382 votes in favour, 219 against and 117 abstentions. The SP voted against.

10 September 2009

Prolongation of Dutch military presence in Afghanistan? SP demands clarification

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel, the party's spokesman on foreign affairs, has asked Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen to comment on reports in the international press to the effect that the Dutch and US governments have agreed that some 500 soldiers from the Netherlands will remain in the Uruzgan region of Afghanistan beyond the originally agreed date of 2010. “The Netherlands has made its contribution," Van Bommel says. "500 soldiers remaining in Uruzgan will simply mean a continuation of the war being fought there."

9 September 2009

'Barroso not the right man for Europe'

There will be no new direction for the EU with Jose Barroso as President of the European Commission, which is why the SP won't be supporting his re-election. SP European Parliament group chair Dennis de Jong describes himself as "shocked" that Barroso denies that the EU shares responsibility for the crisis: “Under his Commission supervision of banks has been dismantled and financial institutions have been given a free hand. Now that millions of jobs are hanging in the balance, Barroso wants simply to go on throwing everything in the EU to the market as if nothing has happened. His neoliberal vision is a threat to any social Europe."

9 September 2009

War is football?

Interest in the question of our country's involvement in the war in Afghanistan is once again flaring up. Support amongst the Dutch people for the military mission in Uruzgan is declining ever further. The sad news that two more soldiers have died in just two days has shocked everyone. Thousands of people are signing condolence registers. Of course, our first thoughts are for the friends and relatives of those who lost their lives.

International