Wednesday, 24 September 2014 - 11:13
Ministers to hold emergency meeting on ISIS
On Wednesday, the Council of Ministers will meet to discuss the Dutch contribution to the international struggle against ISIS.
According to a report from the Government Information Service, Deputy PM Lodewijk Asscher will lead the discussions, taking over from Prime Minister Rutte, who is in New York for the climate summit. Rutte is joined in the US by Foreign Affairs Minister Timmermans and Lilianne Ploumen of Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation. They do have a say in any decision made, however.
The Ministers will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday, to come to an agreement about the scope of Dutch contribution to the fight against ISIS. According to De Telegraaf, there has been some internal turmoil amongst the policy makers about The Netherlands participating in the coalition set up by US President Obama.
The paper writes that the PvdA thinks there should be a mandate before the country makes any commitments. The VVD is prepared to agree to the Dutch military contribution to the coalition on the basis of a humanitarian effort.