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