BRATISLAVA, 24/10/09 - NATO partners would regard a departure of the Netherlands from the Afghan province of Uruzgan as a "remarkable unilateral move"." So said Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop Friday in an interview with NRC Handelsblad newspaper.

Two weeks ago, the Lower House adopted a motion in which the government was urged to ensure that all troops were out of Uruzgan after December 2010. Van Middelkoop says however that what the government will decide is still open. The cabinet does not legally require a parliamentary majority for a longer stay in Uruzgan.

The Netherlands is under "subtle pressure" within NATO due to the House motion, said the defence minister in the interview during the two-day informal NATO meeting in Slovakia. He noted that his colleagues from other NATO countries would view a possible withdrawal by the Netherlands from Uruzgan as a "remarkable Alleingang (unilateral move) that raises questions on the developments in the alliance."

The House motion was put forward by the government parties Labour (PvdA) and small Christian party ChristenUnie, and supported by all opposition parties except centre-left D66 and the smallest Christian party SGP. The Christian democrats (CDA), the biggest government party, was 'not amused' by the broadly supported motion.

Van Middelkoop himself is a member of ChristenUnie, but made no effort Friday to give the impression that he supports his MPs. "The motion is there, it is the cabinet's move. It is now open. Then it becomes important what NATO thinks (...)."

The Dutch armed forces, if they were to withdraw, would "switch from over-performing to underperforming," added the minister, while "in NATO we actually encourage one another to perform." He also remarked that "the Netherlands is very good at this sort of mission."

Van Middelkoop terms the pressure of his colleagues currently still "subtle" because people know that the Dutch government still has time. He expects the pressure to increase in December, at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Then the second round of the Afghan presidential elections will be over and US President Barack Obama will have made a decision on the possible deployment of more troops in Afghanistan.