The withdrawal from Afghanistan becomes an issue in the Belgian electoral campaign

(BRUXELLES2) The blow came from the Flemish socialists: the SP-A. In a daily interview the evening, Dirk Van der Maelen (Member of the Chamber) calls for the withdrawal of Belgian troops from Afghanistan and even makes it a condition for the participation of the Socialists in the government. This withdrawal should take place, according to him, "from 2011, in phase and in coordination with the partners“. It would first concern the F16s (based in Kandahar), then operations in the north, and finally Kabul.”I find it scandalous that the rich countries, NATO, Europe, spend 100 billion dollars a year on a war that solves nothing“says the Flemish deputy.

Admittedly, this position is supported only by ecologists in the north and south of the country (Groen and Ecolo) who remain in the minority. The majority parties (liberals and Christian democrats) support respect for allied commitments in Afghanistan and consider it necessary to stay put to avoid the return of the Taliban. "We cannot leave Afghanistan prematurely. Western security is at stake here. We must support the process of 'Afghanization' via reconstruction, then a premature disengagement would favor Talibanization", said the liberal Denis Ducarme (Reform Movement) in the columns of La Libre Belgique.

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This position, in the context of an election campaign, should not, however, be disregarded. Because, on the one hand, she encounters a large part of the public (especially in the north of the country) who does not understand the object of this distant war and for whom the cost argument resonates in these times of crisis: more of 109 million euros according to the SP-A, 54,2 million euros replicates the MR). On the other hand, it could lead to one more negotiation for the formation of a coalition government (always compulsory in Belgium given the electoral system).

Among the concessions necessary in the event of the formation of a new government, including Flemish socialists and ecologists, could thus appear, in the absence of a total withdrawal, at least a stoppage of reinforcements and a partial withdrawal. We remember that it was this question that led to the dissolution of the coalition in power, on the other side of the border, in the Netherlands (1), precisely following the volte-face of the social democrats. It confirms my previous analysis of the increasingly divisive and politicized nature of European military engagement in Afghanistan (2).

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) Rififi in The Hague around the withdrawal from Afghanistan

(2) The NL government falls on Afghanistan, a turning point in the war?