Dutch soldiers in Mali?
(BRUSSELS2) Dutch soldiers could leave for Mali. An interministerial mission (soldiers, agents of Foreign Affairs, Justice and the Interior) was in Bamako and in several towns in the country at the beginning of September to " gather information “in the event of sending soldiers to Mali for the UN mission (Minusma). It's about knowing " how the country can contribute and what are the consequences”, says the Ministry of Defense. But before any dispatch, the Second Chamber will have to decide.
Two options are being considered, reveals the daily Volkskrant: either sending a 60-man “Medevac” helicopter unit; or the dispatch of intelligence units of between 60 and 90 men. The presence of Dutchman Bert Koenders as head of Minusma and UN special representative in Mali partly explains this stated desire, as does the possible candidacy for the UN Security Council around 2017 or 2018, according to our Dutch colleagues.
The will to increase the presence of the Netherlands abroad and to find external theaters of operation for the Dutch soldiers, after the withdrawal from Afghanistan (Kunduz), also justifies this commitment. NB: A concern not acknowledged by several European countries but felt precisely: what to do after Afghanistan?
Note that the Dutch embassy in Bamako has increased its scope of action since June 1 and the closure of the embassy in Ouagadougou. It thus covers Niger and Burkina-Faso. The Belgian embassy issuing short-stay visas in this country.
