Indonesia, Netherlands can bridge ASEAN-EU relations

Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot attended Indonesia's 60th Independence Day celebrations, the highest-ranking attendance ever since the Netherlands ceded its claim to sovereignty over Indonesia in 1949. The Jakarta Post's Riyadi Suparno and Veeramalla Anjaiah interviewed the foreign minister to get his views on bilateral issues. Following are some excerpts:

Question: The Netherlands has finally recognized Indonesia's independence of August 17, 1945, instead of Dec. 27, 1949. The Netherlands has also expressed its regrets over the suffering that resulted from Dutch military actions between the two dates. What does it mean to your country and how will it influence your relations with Indonesia?

Answer: We have now reached the stage where we are both looking back at a strained relationship in the past. We have been very open about it, we have expressed the acknowledgement of the date, which is of course painful for us, and we have expressed our regrets for what happened in the period between 1945 and 1949, and it has been accepted gracefully here by the President and the minister of foreign affairs. And I thank them very much.

It's important because it means that our relations would be put to a new footing. From there on, we could continue on with an otherwise already a good relationship, but always it can be better.

How do you now see Indonesia in terms of your foreign relations and how do you foresee the future of bilateral relations?

Indonesia is increasingly an important player, not only in ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) but also in Asia. Many countries are now looking at Indonesia as an example and as a leader. Indonesia, under the new President, is also becoming more self-conscious of that role. It was very much a focus on its own situations during previous periods, and now I feel that it's conscious of its international role.

At the same time, it's very important that relations between the European Union and ASEAN be strengthened. Indonesia and the Netherlands can help each other there, given that special relationship; Indonesia because of its prominent roles in ASEAN, and the Netherlands because of its roles in the EU.

I was struck by your comment that the Netherlands is just a small country known for its soccer players, but it does not address the Netherlands as a key player in the European integration process. It has a huge GDP (gross domestic products), that is more than twice that of Indonesia. Our GDP is more of the whole 10 EU new member states combined. Also, we are of course a far more important geographical player because we are a gateway to Europe. So, we can be an important link (between EU and ASEAN). That relationship could be beneficial for both sides.

Take the Aceh monitoring mission, for example. There is a EU- ASEAN monitoring mission. It's for the first time that we have such a combination. From there, I think we can learn a lot from each other. It also creates a precedence for future cooperation in many fields because we need each other ...

But of course, it needs two to tango, two to shake hands. Let see what we can do in near future, and let's work on the basis of the renewed relationship.

You and the EU are involved in helping settle the Aceh problem. Would you -- and the EU -- also be available to help Indonesia once again to settle the Papua issue, and in what way?

First of all, I want to repeat over and over again, that we recognize the territorial integrity of Indonesia. For the Netherlands, that's our political philosophy as far as Indonesia is concerned.

It is the Indonesian government that has to determine how it's going to implement the special status of Papua. When I had a discussion with the President, I assured him we have absolutely no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Indonesia. You have to settle the issue by yourself. But if you need our support, of course, we will be willing to give it, but only at your request, because we have the experience, and we have worked in Papua, so we know the situation. So if Indonesia says, "Can you come to help us?" Of course. Otherwise, it's your baby.

Instead of giving compensation for past damage, you promised to increase development assistance to Indonesia. How would you meet such a promise?

In the past, we had contributed enormously to Indonesia, which was one of the main recipients of our development assistance. We continue to support Indonesia. But we need good projects, and good projects need to be discussed by the two governments. Let see what we can do there.