VZCZCXRO6602
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL
DE RUEHTC #0395/01 1871208
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 061208Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2978
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000395 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO WHITE HOUSE FOR THE PRESIDENT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2019 
TAGS: PREL OVIP ECON EFIN PINR MOPS NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS: OVERVIEW FOR THE PRESIDENT'S JULY 14 
...



215223,7/6/2009 12:08,09THEHAGUE395,"Embassy The Hague",
SECRET,,"VZCZCXRO6602
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL
DE RUEHTC #0395/01 1871208
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 061208Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2978
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY","S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000395
SIPDIS
STATE PLEASE PASS TO WHITE HOUSE FOR THE PRESIDENT
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2019
TAGS: PREL OVIP ECON EFIN PINR MOPS NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS: OVERVIEW FOR THE PRESIDENT'S JULY 14
MEETING WITH DUTCH PRIME MINISTER BALKENENDE
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael F. Gallagher for reasons 1.4 (
b) and (d).
Mr. President:
¶1. (C) Your July 14 meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Jan
Pieter Balkenende provides an opportunity for us to urge the
Dutch to continue as part of NATO in Afghanistan and to
enlist PM Balkenende in solving Guantanamo issues. For his
part, Balkenende will seek to continue the Dutch role in the
G20 and to find a common ground to work with us on climate
change and the Middle East.
¶2. (C) Balkenende, in office through four coalitions since
2002, is a cunning politician who does not impose his vision
on coalition partners, but maneuvers effectively to achieve
the intended goal. At first, he was dismissed as a
lightweight ""Harry Potter"" look-alike, but he has
consistently and skillfully delivered Cabinet support for
U.S. policy objectives while balancing fragile parliamentary
majorities. Balkenende,s current center-left coalition
government (""Balkenende IV"") is held together more by fear of
early elections than any unity of vision. The financial
crisis has plunged the Netherlands into a recession likely to
last through 2010, and the Cabinet must continually defend
its three relatively modest stimulus packages against calls
to do more to spur recovery. Balkenende is also under
pressure from a skeptical public to withdraw the
Netherlands, 1,800 troops from Afghanistan in 2010. His
main coalition partner, the Labor Party, is in decline,
having fared poorly in the 2006 national election and the
2009 European Parliament election, and believes rejecting a
continuing role in Afghanistan will please its base and may
win back supporters.
¶3. (S) The Wilders Factor: Golden-pompadoured, maverick
parliamentarian Geert Wilders, anti-Islam, nationalist
Freedom Party remains a thorn in the coalition,s side,
capitalizing on the social stresses resulting from the
failure to fully integrate almost a million Dutch Muslims,
mostly of Moroccan or Turkish descent. In existence only
since 2006, the Freedom Party, tightly controlled by Wilders,
has grown to be the Netherlands second largest, and fastest
growing, party. Recent polls suggest it could even replace
Balkenende,s Christian Democrats as the top party in 2011
parliamentary elections. Wilders is no friend of the U.S.:
he opposes Dutch military involvement in Afghanistan; he
believes development assistance is money wasted; he opposes
NATO missions outside ""allied"" territory; he is against most
EU initiatives; and, most troubling, he forments fear and
hatred of immigrants.
¶4. (C) As a result of these currents, Balkenende,s coalition
finds itself in a precarious position and could fall within a
year (most likely after municipal elections in March 2010).
The Prime Minister is aware we want him to deliver continued
Dutch boots on the ground in Afghanistan after 2010 and help
with Guantanamo detainees. He knows there are high
risks/expectations involved in his meeting with you, but we
understand he is coming to offer as much as he thinks he can
deliver at this time.
¶5. (S) Balkenende, a long-time champion of U.S.-Dutch
relations, seeks to establish a strong relationship with you
and capitalize on your popularity. The Dutch public
overwhelmingly supported your election in November, and you
remain hugely popular here as a beacon of change. Balkenende
Qremain hugely popular here as a beacon of change. Balkenende
will encourage you to view the long arc of the U.S.-Dutch
relationship, not just current bumps in the road (e.g. the
likely drawdown of Dutch forces in Afghanistan after 2010).
He wants you to see the Netherlands as America,s friend and
partner, with significant Dutch contributions to our shared
foreign policy priorities: Dutch military presence in
Afghanistan and support for NATO; support for U.S.
intervention in Iraq; active participation in the EU, NATO,
and other multilateral institutions; substantial and
sustained foreign development assistance; and a long-standing
commitment to promoting human rights, tolerance, and the rule
of law. And, he will ask you for a seat at the G-20 table in
Pittsburgh as well as for a meeting at the White House in
September for the Crown Prince.
¶6. (C) Balkenende will use your private, one-on-one session
to highlight your shared personal values and experiences. He
believes social organizations are more effective in promoting
change than government. His philosophy is that we must treat
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one another with dignity and respect as we live and work
together. Your Father,s Day call for fathers to accept more
responsibility in the rearing of their children resonated
with him. Balkenende will also likely use the one-on-one
session to pinpoint the political difficulties of the
deliverables we are seeking. Rather than cover a laundry
list of topics, the Dutch want the larger meeting to focus on
1) Afghanistan/Pakistan, 2) the future of the global economic
system (including the role of the G20 and how to help
developing countries), 3) the Middle East Peace Process/Iran,
and 4) climate change. The Prime Minister is anticipating
other key foreign policy issues (e.g. human rights, Russia,
NATO, non-proliferation, energy security, 400th anniversary
of Henry Hudson,s voyage to Manhattan - NY400) can be
covered by staff or only briefly mentioned to stay focused on
the major issues. Two cables will follow which will expand
on these topics.
GALLAGHER