Word: europeans
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Besides the extra troops from the U.K., Italy, Georgia, Montenegro, South Korea and Turkey, have said they are ready to send more troops - though none have indicated numbers. Poland, Spain and Slovakia are thought to be considering reinforcements, along with non-European allies like New Zealand and Japan. But the Netherlands has already announced it is pulling out its 2,160 troops next year, and Canada will withdraw its 2,800-strong force by the end of 2011. (See pictures of the battle against the Taliban...
...German Chancellor Angela Merkel is thought to be mulling reinforcements to Germany's current deployment of 4,365, but she will wait until after an international conference on Afghanistan, set for late January in London, before announcing more resources. "The timeline is diminishing. European support will last for a year, maybe two," says Greg Austin, vice president of program development and rapid response at the EastWest Institute. "But in the long term, it is not sustainable for the U.S. and its NATO allies to bear the burden. There has to be a more hard-nosed diplomacy to mobilize neighboring countries...
...Europe has also been vocal in its frustrations over rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. A report prepared for E.U. governments in October said the current nation-building efforts have been too slow, with political reform and clean government almost nonexistent in spite of eight years of U.S. and European assistance. "The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating," the report said...
...rural development, governance, health, mine removal and human rights. But it is still struggling to deliver the 400 police trainers it committed to deliver years ago. "More troops are not the solution. The highest priority is not military, but civil development," says Thijs Berman, a Dutch member in the European Parliament and head of its Afghanistan delegation. He says the best way the international community can help is to fight corruption and the resurgence of the opium trade. "Terrorism can only be fought with credible government, with developments the population believes in." (Read the full transcript of Obama's speech...
...officials will get to hear European concerns over the next few days in a series of key meetings on Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton will be in Brussels to secure commitments from governments at a meeting of Foreign Ministers on Thursday and Friday. Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan was in Brussels Wednesday to meet key E.U. officials. And military officers will also meet in the southern Belgian town of Mons on Dec. 7 to discuss the mission's resources. They should all lower expectations about how much Europe is willing to contribute...