Halonen: 2014 no definitive deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan

Finnish President, Foreign Minister, and Defence Minister attend meeting at NATO summit

Tarja Halonen

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President Tarja Halonen indicated on Saturday that the aim of placing the security of Afghanistan in the hands of the Afghans themselves by 2014 is not carved in stone.
      “This needs to be brought to a conclusion in good cooperation”, Halonen said in Lisbon. “A good decision does not mean a specific calendar date, even though 2014 is in these plans.”
      Halonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party), and Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party) were taking part in the part of the NATO summit in which the situation in Afghanistan was discussed.
     
Taking part in the meeting were NATO members, in addition to countries involved in the Afghanistan effort, as well as Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai.
      As expected, the meeting approved 2014 as the goal for withdrawal. By the end of that year, Afghanistan’s own armed forces would be responsible for the country’s security, with the only remaining foreign troops focussing primarily on training. The goal is seen as very ambitious.
     
“We need to know something about the medium-range plans”, Halonen said. “It is also in Karzai’s interest [to know] that this is not a new colonial power that would be there for who knows how long.”
      Halonen spoke of a “double dilemma” of politics and military action.
      “Politicians naturally have to answer the question ‘how long?’, but militarily nobody would give as an answer on the battlefield that ‘we will leave on such-and-such a date’.”

More on this subject:
 Finnish soldier injured in mortar attack on base in Afghanistan

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Stubb: Finland has flexibility to make new Afghanistan decision (27.10.2010)
  Two Finnish soldiers wounded in Afghanistan RPG attack (19.11.2010)
  Afghanistan: Now it’s Finland’s war, too (16.6.2009)
  New US strategy has Finland reconsidering goals in Afghanistan (6.2.2009)
  Finland not setting specific time frame for Afghan withdrawal (2.11.2010)

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