There is confusion in the papers over the Kunduz police training mission and the Dutch greens are calling for a referendum on nuclear power. A Belgian euthanasia couple influence debate in the Netherlands. Royal couple visit Vietnam with a huge trade delegation in their wake and you don’t have to leave the Netherlands to go on a tropical holiday.

Confusion in the papers over Kunduz training mission
There appears to be a bit of confusion in the papers today over the proposed police training mission to Kunduz in Afghanistan. According to NRC Handelsblad NATO is not willing to see training courses expanded from the standard six to eight weeks as suggested by the Dutch, but de Volkskrant says NATO has agreed to the extra training for Afghan recruits. Luckily de Volkskrant has spotted the discrepancy and explains that it’s all a misunderstanding. David C. Simons, head of the NATO training mission says, “NATO welcomes the Dutch contribution with open arms and does not want to give the impression that NATO has turned down the Dutch plan.” The extra weeks could take the form of courses on human rights and reading and writing later on.

But the confusion continues. De Volkskrant writes that in the ministerial letter to parliament Defence Minister Hans Hillen says the mission will start this summer and part of the mission will be postponed until next year. However, nrc.next reports that the mission will begin next year when it will be able to take over a German training centre. Nrc.next (sister paper of evening paper NRC Handelsblad) still insists the letter indicates there are problems about the length of the proposed training courses.

The number of weeks could be crucial because the minority government had great difficulty cobbling together support from the opposition as the pro-government Freedom Party does not support the mission. One of the conditions laid down by the Green Left party was that the training lasted longer. Another condition is that police trained by the Dutch are not used to fight the Taliban. But de Volkskrant writes that those kinds of assurances can only be given once the mission has begun. The Green Left wanted guarantees up front. The paper says the Green Left are hesitant about the mission, but have so far not responded to the letter. Christian Union leader Joël Voordewind says he is very concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Kunduz. Democrat D66 leader Alexander Pechtold says NATO had made important moves towards the Dutch demands. Well they have...depending on which paper you read.

Dutch greens call for referendum on nuclear energy
While the nuclear crisis in Japan has led to a huge victory for the Greens in the German state of Baden Württemberg, possibly turning the protest party into the largest in the country, the Dutch Green Left party has called for a referendum on nuclear energy. Next week the Dutch government will consult with MPs over the conditions for extending a licence to build a new nuclear power station in the Netherlands. In February, the Minister of Economic Affairs Maxime Verhagen wants to present new proposals to begin the construction of a new plant in 2015. The existing nuclear power station in Borssele in the south east was built in 1976 and will continue to produce electricity until 2033.

In de Volkskrant, Green Left MP Lisbeth van Tongeren explains why she is lobbying for a referendum. “The consequences of building a new nuclear plant last for a long time... Above all, the waste remains radio-active for a period of time that is unfathomable“ (one to two hundred thousand years to be exact). Trouw writes that the chance of something going wrong in the Netherlands is small, but too big to leave such a decision to politicians.

As far as the voters are concerned there is a no majority to increase the number of nuclear plants. But there is also no majority against nuclear energy – rather a large group of “don’t knows” in the middle. Ms van Tongeren thinks knowing that the energy produced is destined for export will help persuade the public that they might not want a huge nuclear hazard in their back yard.

Dual Belgian euthanasia case makes waves in the Netherlands
Last week a Belgian couple opted for euthanasia and the story has captured the attention of the Dutch press. De Volkskrant calls the case taboo-breaking. AD asks whether it’s possible for couples to commit euthanasia together in the Netherlands. The 83-year-old man was terminally ill with prostate cancer, but his 78-year-old wife did not have any life-threatening disease. Nevertheless doctors took her chronic arthritis into account and the fact she would not be able to take care of herself once her husband died.

In the Netherlands, euthanasia is legal in cases of unbearable suffering in the terminal phase of an illness. But Eric van Wijlick of the Dutch medical association KNMG thinks cases like this one should be honoured. It’s not clear how many couples request simultaneous euthanasia as cases are only registered individually. Dutch doctors who are confronted with a euthanasia request are required to seek a second opinion from a colleague. Once the euthanasia has been carried out, the case is reported to a regional committee which reviews the case.

Ten years after the Euthanasia Act was introduced in the Netherlands, Dutch doctors want the definition of unbearable suffering to be expanded. Christian Union MP Esmé Wiegman is concerned about this change in the KNMG’s position on euthanasia. Nevertheless, doctors are aware that they have a duty to make sure there is no coercion.

Dutch royals on tour
It looks like it is down to the more populist papers to report on a four-day royal trip to Vietnam by the royal couple Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima, with a huge trade mission in its wake. AD prints a photo on the front page of the princess exchanging knowing looks with Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation Henk Bleker while the prince gives a speech in Hanoi. According to De Telegraaf, while the royal couple visited the presidential palace, a 100-man strong trade delegation was sealing deals elsewhere in the city.

Many of the deals were for Dutch specialities like the inspection of 6000 kilometres of Vietnamese sea dikes, port storage tanks and solar-powered water regulation systems. Later in the week the Mekong Delta Plan dreamt up by Dutch engineers will be presented to protect low-lying Vietnam from rising sea water levels. The aim of the trip is to forge trade relations with the communist country. It looks like the two countries have plenty in common.

Dutch marine experts go tropical
To go on a tropical holiday, the Dutch no longer need to leave the Netherlands. As de Volkskrant points out, last year’s change in status of the former Dutch Antilles means that the tropical islands Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius have added a huge piece of tropical sea to the country. The biodiversity of the Netherlands has been enriched with mangrove forests, coral reefs and fields of sea grass. The territorial waters of the 24-mile zone of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the three smaller Antillean islands (83,000 square kilometres) has a larger area than the Netherlands has in the North Sea and Wadden Sea put together (61,000 square kilometres).

Inside the zone are valuable ecosystems including Saba Bank, a sunken atoll with 60 kilometres of reef, which is a breeding ground for Caribbean fish. The Dutch are now responsible for the marine ecosystem. Dutch marine biologists of the Royal Dutch Institute for Research of the Sea (NIOZ) and Wageningen University marine institute Imares have grasped the opportunity to combine forces and set up an expertise platform called AgroporaNet. The platform will focus on research and education and there will probably be a scientific expedition. I bet there will be.