Netherlands recognizes RI's independence date

Netherlands recognizes RI's independence date

Indonesia's former colonial master, the Netherlands, has put an
end to decades of diplomatic imbroglio by formally accepting
Indonesia's independence date as Aug. 17, 1945, Dutch foreign
minister said in The Hague.

Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot will arrive in Jakarta on
Tuesday to attend this year's Independence Day celebrations. Bot
will also convey the acceptance of Aug. 15 as Indonesia's
independence anniversary to the Indonesian government.

No Dutch minister has ever attended Indonesia's Independence
Day celebrations before.

"The visit itself is political and moral acceptance of the
independence date of the 17th of August 1945," Bot said in a
speech, an excerpt of which was sent to The Jakarta Post by the
Royal Dutch Embassy in Jakarta, on Monday in The Hague.

Bot was speaking at a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of
Japanese capitulation in Asia.

The Netherlands has claimed all these years that its former
colony Indonesia became independent on Dec. 27, 1949, when the
Dutch formally transferred sovereignty to Indonesians. But
Indonesia proclaimed its independence on Aug. 17, 1945.

"I will explain to the Indonesian people that my presence
there should be seen as a moral and political acceptance of that
date," Bot said.

He also expressed sorrow over violence in Indonesia before its
independence from Dutch colonial rule in the late 1940s.

"Now we can say the separation of Indonesia and the
Netherlands took longer and involved more military violence than
was necessary," Bot said.

During the so-termed "police actions" in 1947 and 1948, Dutch
troops tried to prevent Indonesia from gaining independence by
occupying most of its islands.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister JP Balkenende -- a new
post-war leader -- the Dutch government has been making all-out
efforts to strengthen political relations with Indonesia. He has
sent his trusted aide Bot to Indonesia several times to build a
strong partnership between the two countries. -- JP