No funding for Dutch ISIS fight

During a briefing on the Dutch participation in the fight against ISIS it emerged that the Netherlands actually has no money for attacking ISIS in Iraq. To pay for the deployment of the F-16's and military trainers, the cabinet is using budgets intended for 2017 to 2019. "The funding is a headache." Says VVD Parliament Member Han ten Broeke, "We cannot afford such essential missions like these from the folds of future budgets. This increases the need for rethinking the funding of missions." According to Rob Swartbol, director of international cooperation in Foreign Affairs, resources are simply limited. The "mission pot" for this year and next is as good as empty due to military deployments to Mali and off the Somali coast, De Telegraaf reports. "The mission was also quite unexpected." He said in defense of the emergency measures. It is unclear what will happen if the ISIS mission needs to be renewed after one year. It is also uncertain how Foreign Affairs will absorb unexpected costs in the future.