Uganda’s East African neighbours have pledged soft support should the country choose to go on the offensive in Somalia as Kampala weighs its options in the wake of the twin bombing that left nearly 80 people dead late on July 11.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Why al-Shabaab would attack in Uganda (thegrio.com)
• The Latest On Al Shabaab (talkingpointsmemo.com)
• Uganda Says 64 Dead in ‘Terrorist’ Attacks in Capital (businessweek.com)

“Does Belgium make sense any more?” was the question printed not many days ago by ‘Le Soir’, the best known Belgian daily. Not a fresh question. It has been asked for decades; the difference today is only in the accrued degree of incompatibility between the two ethnic components of the country, Flemish and Walloon. They simply do not seem able and/or willing to stay united.

Their possible splitting would not of course menace the peace of Europe. So, why are we ruminating about Belgium, a state only 10% larger than Maryland? The reason is that Belgium is the heart of the Carolingian continent. In fact Europe’s bureaucratic headquarters is in Brussels. In 1914, Belgium was the nominal reason for the United Kingdom entry into WW1, an atrocious conflict whose cost was one million dead for the British Empire only. Before 1579, Belgian was part of the Netherlands. When the Protestant provinces became independent, the Catholic (Belgian) ones remained in the Spanish fold. In 1713, they moved to the Austrian Habsburg empire; eighty years later to revolutionary France.

For fifteen years after 1815, Belgium was part of the Dutch kingdom, then became a state under the German dynasty of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha. At the beginning of the XX century, Belgium acquired officially the Congo, thus becoming an important colonial power.

The present shaky constitutional tie between Flanders and Wallonia dates back to 1980. The immediate cause of today’s crisis is the initiative of Flemish groups to obtain the dismemberment of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (Bhv) district, the one that includes the national capital and the seat of the European Union. This district, roughly similar to the federal District of Columbia, is officially bilingual (Flemish-French). Now that the Flemish appear bent in annexing the northern part of Bhv, the precarious compromise that permitted the common sharing of the Bhv may have proved impracticable.

The Walloon (Southern) part of Belgium is somewhat less prosperous  and dynamic than the Flemish one, so the latter feels that it would have a better deal if it would join affluent Holland, with whom the linguistic and cultural affinity is the highest. Should the Flemish go, theoretically the Walloon would be wise to unite with France. But history does not usually obey theories. Even illogical factors such as the monarchical sentiments of Belgians would operate against entering the French hyper-republican context.

By the way, nothing is rational in the almost naive loyalty to kings and grand dukes of several Western and Northern nations of Europe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, not to say a word about Spain and Britain. They go on loving their crowned heads, whose main justification today is that monarchies do not need presidents, with connected electoral campaigns, political bickering and horse-trading. On the other hand, monarchies need superfluous dignitaries and a lot of outdated procedures.

Possibly Belgians will refrain from scuttling their unlucky vessel, considering the trouble and cost of partition. As one of the oldest among industrial societies, Belgium is sophisticated and complex. But should one day her people decide to put an end to national unity, no real tragedy would follow.

More dangerous are the volcanic ashes in the skies

Related articles by Zemanta

• Belgium risks break-up and ‘Kosovo’ situation (telegraph.co.uk)
• Demise of Project Belgium? (investoralist.com)
• You: Language divide tears Belgium apart (guardian.co.uk)

A few more months and Dutch soldiers will begin to retreat from the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The Netherlands’ armed forces have focused mainly on Uruzgan-like missions in the last years. The military has been made into an expeditionary force capable of handling numerous foreign missions with a lean organisation.

Two years ago, defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop established a working group to investigate some existential questions. Why does the Netherlands need armed forces in the first place? What kind of military will the Netherlands need in years to come? Where will future threats come from?

Professors, scientists, think tanks, civil servants and former soldiers were asked to advise on these matters for the report that was published on Monday. The survey, entitled Explorations: a Starting Point for the Armed Forces of Tomorrow, focuses on the 2020-2030 time frame.

The report is partially a pre-emptive strike against those who are looking to cut the defence budget. The military is a likely target of cutbacks now the mission in Uruzgan is ending and the government has announced broad expenditure cuts of 29 billion euros to combat the consequences of the economic crisis. The report wants to offer a “long–term perspective” illustrating the importance of the armed forces.

The experts have drafted four possible policy scenarios. The first assumes that the Netherlands only wants to protect its own territory. The second focuses on maintaining the international rule of law through short-term operations lasting no longer than a year. A third scenario presumes the Netherlands will participate in (long-term) stabilisation operations. The fourth scenario imagines the armed forces as a Swiss army knife of sorts: a multi-purpose instrument to be used both at home and abroad, depending on diverse weapons systems to complete varying missions. This last scenario most resembles today’s armed forces.

All four of these policy options have been examined in the light of three different budgetary scenarios: one assuming the Dutch defence budget will remain unchanged at 8 billion euros annually, and two that assume either an increase or decrease of 1.5 billion.

Read more here.

Dutch politics are not usually considered important in the US capital, and very little heed was given to the collapse of the fourth Balkenende cabinet over the weekend. Dutch speed skater Mark Tuitert’s Olympic gold made it to prime time on Saturday, but three paragraphs on page 16 of The Washington Post on Sunday were all the attention the Dutch political drama received.

But those who closely follow Obama’s policies on Afghanistan were eager to learn more about the split in the coalition. Bruce Riedel, Larry Korb and J. Alexander Thier fear the withdrawal of all Dutch troops will encourage other allies to also abandon Nato’s Afghanistan mission. They predict conservative criticism of Obama will grow. And they feel the little political influence the Netherlands had in Washington will diminish further.

“The irony is that this comes to the time when the battle finally is turning in favour of Nato,’’ Riedel said. He understands the Netherlands has “stretched their military to the absolute limit”. But finds it “frustrating” that Canada could follow suit and withdraw its troops as well – posing serious problems for Obama. “The big worry for the Obama administration is that is this could cause a domino effect. I know that’s in their mind,” he said.

Moreover, the Afghan war has become very unpopular in the US itself – although approval ratings have risen in recent months. “The weariness is growing here at home, especially among the president’s own party. And the symbolism of a major ally leaving now will be particularly difficult for the president,” Riedel said.

Larry Korb (Centre for American Progress) added the decision fans the flames of conservative critics of the president. In his election campaign, Obama argued his popularity abroad would mean he could get more international support for US policies than his predecessor George W. Bush. But the results so far have been disappointing.

Read more here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• When the Dutch Pull Out of Afghanistan, Can the French and the Germans Be Far Behind? (themoderatevoice.com)
• Dutch Pull-Out From War Expected After Government Collapse (nytimes.com)
• Dutch May Pull Afghan Troops (online.wsj.com)

The Netherlands hopes to conduct safety checks using special ‘see-through’ security scanners on air passengers bound for any destinations. Currently, these scanners are only used on flights bound for the US.

Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin announced the move to his European colleagues speaking at a meeting in the Spanish town of Toledo on Thursday. The Netherlands is seeking the support of other EU-countries, before implementing the scanners that can see through clothing to detect explosives and other contraband.

EU-countries are currently at liberty to deploy the scanners as they see fit, but Hirsch Ballin pushed for European regulations on the matter, saying they would do much to improve the efficiency of security checks and provide clarity for passengers. The European commission hopes to propose regulations governing their usage to EU-countries this spring.

According to Hirsch Ballin, the security scanners should become mandatory on all European airports. Not all of his colleagues are fully convinced they should be. They want to await the results of a study into the scanners health and privacy concerns. According to Hirsch Ballin, his colleagues were “mostly interested” in Dutch experiences with the technology

Germany, which initially had its reservations, is said to start experimenting with the scanners soon. As soon as a European agreement has been reached, the Netherlands intends to start a phased introduction of the scanners on all flights emanating from the Netherlands. First all flights bound for the US will be effected (requiring 75 scanners in all), the scanners will then be deployed on all intercontinental flights, and finally all intra-European flights.

Hirsch Ballin was unable to determine the number of scanners this would require.

Read more here.

Gies became part of legend on August 4, 1944, the day Anne Frank and most of her family were reported to the authorities in an act of betrayal and deported from their hideaway in an 17th century home on Amsterdam’s historic canals.

After the Franks were gone, Gies gathered some of their belongings, including a small red-chequered diary, and kept them hidden in a drawer for the remainder of the war. In June 1945 she handed the book over to Otto Frank, Anne’s father.

Gies, born Hermine Santruschitz, came to the Netherlands as an anaemic, malnourished 11-year-old from her native Vienna, hoping to recuperate while living with a Leiden foster family. Not only did Gies regain her health, she felt so at home in the Netherlands that her parents agreed to let her stay here.

She later moved to Amsterdam, where she applied for a job at Opecta, Otto Frank’s conserve business. Gies and her – then prospective – husband’s family were close to Otto.

When Frank’s oldest daughter was called on for forced labour in Germany in July of 1942, the Frank family decided to go into hiding. Otto knew Miep would come to his aid if need be. “Once or twice in a lifetime, people exchanges glances that cannot be described in words. We exchanged such a glance,” Gies said later.

On June 3, 1945, their eyes met again. “We faced each other silently until Otto Frank finally said, in a calm voice: ‘Miep, Edith won’t be coming back. But I have good hopes for Margot and Anne.’ ‘Yes, good hope,’” I parroted, trying to sound encouraging. “Why don’t you come in?’” Frank ended up staying with the Gies family for seven years, after which he moved to Switzerland.

Miep and her husband Jan shunned publicity until 1987, when she co-authored the book Anne Frank Remembered, with the American writer Allison Leslie Gold.

Read more here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Miep Gies, Protector of Anne Frank, Dies at 100 (nytimes.com)
• Miep Gies, Anne Frank protector, dies at 100 (cnn.com)
• Miep Gies obituary (guardian.co.uk)

Nine north-western European countries are planning a giant underwater energy grid in the North Sea linked to wind farms, tidal power stations and hydroelectric plants.

Thousands of kilometers of high-tech energy cables are set to be laid on the seabed of the North Sea in the coming ten years, in what will become Europe’s groundbreaking energy park.

The cables would link existing and new windmills off the German and British coasts with Belgian and Danish tidal power stations and Norwegian hydroelectric plants. The €30-billion project would compensate for the irregular nature of renewable energy and provide a steady flow to the countries involved.

Germany, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg are behind the project. Their respective energy ministers last month signed a so-called North Seas’ countries offshore initiative, just as the international climate change summit in Copenhagen was kicking off.

“We’re already the world leader in offshore wind here in the UK and today’s announcements bring new funding and expert direction to grow this vital new industry,” Philip Hunt, the British sustainability minister, said in December.

Berlin sees itself as the driving motor behind the scheme. “For Germany, as a country with ambitious offshore-development plans, this initiative has great importance. It focuses on network connection and integration, which is crucial for wind energy to reach consumers and to make offshore energy generation a success,” German minister for economy and technology Rainer Bruderle said on Wednesday (5 January) in a press release.

He added that the idea came about during a meeting of French, German and Benelux representatives on energy issues.

Read more here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• European countries to combine renewables in massive grid effort (green.venturebeat.com)
• Renewable energy? It’s an offshore thing (guardian.co.uk)
• Beyond Copenhagen (flanderstoday.eu)

From now on, the threat of a terrorist attack on Dutch soil is only “limited”. Over the past two years the threat was “substantial”, but Muslim extremists prefer to seek refuge across the border, an analysis of the Netherlands’ National Anti-Terrorism Co-ordinator published on Tuesday has revealed.

Politicians in The Hague and other potential targets can breathe a sigh of relief. According to the Dutch intelligence agency (AIVD) local networks of radical Muslims such as the notorious Hofstad group were weakened over the past year by internal divisions and a lack of leadership.

The Netherlands is rarely being mentioned in video threats issued by jihadist groups, despite the rise of anti-Islam opposition politician Geert Wilders. His controversial film Fitna caused a lot of commotion last year, but it seems to have gone off the jihadist radar since.

The judgment that the Netherlands is no longer a “preferred target” does not imply that the threat as a whole has got smaller, AIVD’s Director of Internal Security Wil van Gemert warns. If anything, the threat has moved elsewhere.

“There are still plenty of radical youths and people who warmly sympathise with the struggle. But we also see that they are more focused on conflict areas abroad. I’m referring to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia. People are talking about travelling to those areas, or are actually there to receive training.”

Earlier this year four men from the Netherlands were arrested and sent back, because they were allegedly on their way to a jihadist training camp in Somalia.

Read more here.

The wax museum at Balongsari depicts the violent Dutch action at Ragawede on December 9, 1947. Photo Ahmad

A group of Indonesian women are suing the Dutch state for the execution of their husbands by Dutch soldiers 62 years ago, reports NRC Handelsblad.

It is the first time that victims of the Indonesian struggle for independence (1945-1949) have taken legal action against the Netherlands. According to their Dutch lawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld, the women want the Netherlands to recognise the unlawfulness of its actions and financial compensation for their loss.

Indonesia, a Dutch colony since 1800, was occupied by Japan during the Second World War. After the war ended the Dutch tried to restore colonial rule, but they faced a nationalist revolt. Indonesia gained its independence in 1949, after five years of what the Dutch called “police action.”

On December 9, 1947, Dutch soldiers attacked the village of Ragawede on the island of Java, killing hundreds of male villagers. Prisoners and people attempting to flee were shot.

Their widows are now sueing the Dutch state, not just for the killings, but also for failing to investigate the murders. Zegveld: “The military and civilian authorities, for opportunistic reasons, decided not to prosecute the officer in charge at Ragawede, major Wynen.”

The Netherlands have apologised for the Ragawede massacre several times, but it has never accepted legal responsibility.

Until a few months ago, most people in Holland had never heard of Machangulo, Mozambique. But the remote peninsula has been making headlines ever since Dutch Crown-Prince Willem-Alexander announced plans to build a holiday home there. The Dutch media have reported allegations of corruption, threats and even shots being fired. But how much of this is true? RNW’s Eric Beauchemin travelled to Machangulo to investigate.

Read here.