A coalition of European militaries ready to react to crises near the continent’s borders was launched on Wednesday with Finland becoming the 10th country to join, amid calls by French President Emmanuel Macron for a „real European army.“
The French-led initiative would not conflict with the almost 70-year-old, U.S.-dominated NATO alliance, proponents say, but reflects in part concerns about a more isolationist United States under President Donald Trump, as reported by Reuters.
The chance that rebel forces will be able to win the civil war is, the ministers say, now ‘extremely limited’. Dutch support for the rebels has ‘not had the desired effects’, the ministers said. The Netherlands had set aside €70m to fund the opposition. In addition to funding ‘moderate’ rebels, the Netherland had also put money into their police forces and to the White Helmets programme, the civilian rescue service.
The Dutch government faced a storm of protest from lawmakers Monday after a news report said it supported a Syrian opposition group which Dutch prosecutors had labelled a „terrorist“ organisation.
Parliamentarians demanded answers after the report aired by the national public broadcaster said the Netherlands gave „non-lethal assistance“ (NLA) to 22 armed opposition groups battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Two officials familiar with the plans said Thursday that the U.S., Britain and Canada are spearheading the evacuation that would transport members of the White Helmets group to transit camps in neighboring countries. From there, they will be sent to third countries, including Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and possibly Canada, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
Femke Halsema became the first woman in history to become mayor of the city of Amsterdam in The Netherlands on Thursday. Halsema, a 52-year-old former leader of the left-wing Groenlinks party, said she was “happy, proud and humbled,” by the nomination, according to the BBC.
There are an estimated 500,000 security cameras in the Netherlands operated by companies and private individuals. According to the AD, police want registration to be compulsory, as is now the case in Belgium.
The Dutch central Bank, the DNB, mentioned Italy as a risk factor in its spring Financial Stability Report on Friday. „One of the main threats to financial stability is a sudden increase in interest rates due to growing risk premiums,“ the report said.
Tehran and Amsterdam have ramped up efforts to broaden trade ties after the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. Trade turnover between the two countries stood at $650 million 2017, more than $600 million of which pertain to Iranian imports from the Netherlands.