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Afghanistan

Since 2001, the Netherlands has been helping Afghanistan to build a stable and secure society. It has been part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Uruzgan province since 2006, and currently has 1,400 military personnel deployed there.

In addition, the Netherlands is contributing to Afghanistan's reconstruction and development in the broadest sense, working with the Afghan government and international partners to this end.

The decision to end the Netherlands' lead responsibility in Uruzgan on 1 August 2010 remains in force.

Background

After the attacks of 11 September 2001, the international community unanimously agreed that Afghanistan should never again provide a safe haven for international terrorists.

In December 2001, the UN Security Council issued a mandate for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

The 3D Approach: Defence, Diplomacy and Development

In Afghanistan the Netherlands is using the '3D approach', in which defence, diplomacy and development are inextricably linked. A practical expression of this strategy is the work of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Uruzgan, where military specialists and Dutch development experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work side by side.

Dutch involvement after 2010

In 2007, the government decided that the Netherlands would end its lead responsibility in the province on 1 August 2010. NATO will decide which country will take over this role. All Dutch military personnel must leave Uruzgan by December 2010.

On 4 February 2010, the Secretary-General of NATO wrote to the Dutch government about the Netherlands' possible involvement after 1 August 2010.

On 20 February 2010, the government announced that it was unable to agree on whether it would be possible or desirable to extend military involvement with ISAF beyond December 2010. The Labour Party ministers and state secretaries tendered their resignation, and the Christian Democrat and Christian Union ministers and state secretaries indicated their readiness to give up their portfolios.

In view of its provisional status, the caretaker government has informed NATO that it is unable to give a substantive response to the Secretary-General's letter.