
© Debating Europe
The Netherlands will end its support for Syrian militants, since the program did not yield the "expected" results. Earlier, journalists found one of the groups had been labeled 'terrorist' by the Dutch justice department.
"The opportunity to quickly change the situation [in Syria] is extremely small," reads
the letter the lower house of the parliament by Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Minister for Foreign Trade Sigrid Kaag,
announcing the end of support programs for the militants in Syria.The program to support "moderate" anti-government groups in Syria was established in close cooperation with "like-minded donors who pursued the same goals as the Netherlands" and [has] cost the country over $80 million (some €69 million) over the years, according to the document.
It failed to "bring the expected results," however, and is to be closed since the Syrian troops "will soon win" the war against militant groups.
Over the years, the Netherlands allocated $29 million (€25 million) to the
so-called "non-lethal assistance" (NLA) program, $14.5 million (€12.5 million) were donated to the
so-called White Helmets and $17.1 million (€14,8 million) went to the
Access to Justice and Community Service (AJACS) program. The AJACS was supposedly designed to support
"community police" work in Syria, specifically the
so-called Free Syrian Police (FSP) group.The support for militants is set to end immediately, yet the White Helmets will be funded until December, according to the document. Since the White Helmets now operate only in the Idlib province, which is believed to be the destination of the looming offensive by the Syrian Army and its allies, their future is quite doubtful, the document states.
Comment: Creepy imperialists. What are they up to? They're not seriously considering developing and deploying 'ethnic-specific weapons against Russians, are they?
See also: