Word: dutchness
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...always going to be a tough sell for Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. His government had pledged to withdraw 1,950 troops from Afghanistan by September - but he was going to renege on that promise and try to keep the Dutch contingent in the war zone through this year, flying in the face of Dutch political and public outrage. The result: on Feb. 20, after 16 hours of negotiations with his coalition partners in the Hague, Balkenende's efforts failed and with that came the collapse of his coalition government. New elections are expected within three months...
...Dutch government's collapse comes less than three months after U.S. President Barack Obama appealed to NATO allies to boost their Afghanistan troop numbers as part of a surge in the central Asian country. NATO asked this month for the Dutch mission to be extended beyond 2010. But Balkenende's coalition partners in the center-left Labor Party had already secured a pledge from the coalition's main party, the Christian Democrats, to pull troops out this year. Despite Balkenende's pleas, the Labor Party refused to reconsider. "A plan was agreed when our soldiers went to Afghanistan," said Labor...
...Dutch represent just 2.3% of the 86,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, but they have the eighth largest national contingent in the country and one of the highest contributions as a proportion of both their population and overall national army. While Uruzgan province does not face a security threat as severe as the threats in Helmand and Kandahar, it is still volatile: 21 Dutch soldiers have been killed since the mission was first deployed in 2006. The deployment was initially scheduled to end in 2008 but was extended by two years because no other NATO member state offered a replacement...
...issue is only two months old. Under the E.U.'s Lisbon Treaty, which came into force in December, Parliament members now decide jointly with European governments on legal affairs. And by blocking the SWIFT agreement, they proved that they were not shy about exercising their new powers. Dutch lawmaker Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who led the Parliament's attack on the deal, said if the Obama Administration had proposed such a data-sharing arrangement in the U.S., "we all know what the U.S. Congress would say, don't we?" German lawmaker Martin Schulz was even more vocal, saying the U.S. "wrongly...
...Dutch will, of course. After Kramer's victory, Kleintje Pils played "We Will Rock You," "We Are the Champions" and several Dutch anthems as well. "Sven-e won a gold medal! Sven-e won a gold medal" the crowd sang. For the thousands of Dutch speed-skating fans who made the trip to Vancouver to liven up a pretty staid event, forget about Kleintje Pils. After Kramer's win, tonight's a night for Grote Pils. Big Beer. The Heinekens will be flowing in Vancouver...