ألمانيا: الحزب الاشتراكي يعارض بقاء القوات المحتلة بأفغانستان

أكد "فرانك - فالتر شتاينماير" - وزير خارجية "ألمانيا" السابق, ورئيس الحزب الاشتراكي الديمقراطي المعارض - أن حزبه لن يؤيد بقاء القوات الألمانية البالغة 4800 جندي المشاركة للقوات الأجنبية المحتلة بـ"أفغانستان", مؤكدًا ضرورة الانسحاب في الموعد المحدد أول العام الجديد.

وقد وجّه "فرانك" سهام انتقاده للمستشارة الألمانية "أنجيلا ميركل" لاستخدامها لفظ "الحرب" لتوصيف وضع القوات الألمانية أثناء زيارتها الأخيرة للقوات الألمانية في "أفغانستان", مؤكدًا أن مهمة القوات الألمانية في "أفغانستان" مهمة خطيرة وسقط خلالها كثير من الضحايا.

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German opposition leader: Afghan support hinges on withdrawal plans

The leader of Germany's opposition Social Democrats has said his party will not back an extension of the country's Afghanistan troop deployment without concrete moves to scale down the Bundeswehr's mission.

The leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said on Sunday that his party's support for an extension of Germany's troop deployment in Afghanistan depended on a withdrawal beginning next year.

"The mandate must include the beginning of a withdrawal on order for the Social Democrats to give their approval," Steinmeier told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, adding that such a stipulation was "a question of credibility."

"The beginning of a withdrawal of German soldiers is already specified in the 2010 Afghanistan mandate," the opposition leader said. "This must be underpinned in 2011 by concrete actions. Actions speak louder than words."

Steinmeier went on to criticize Chancellor Angela Merkel for using the word "war" to describe the situation in Afghanistan during her latest visit to the country.

German politicians have traditionally specified that the Bundeswehr is involved in an "armed conflict" rather than an all-out war.

"There is absolutely no question that this mission in Afghanistan is dangerous and we have many victims to mourn. The government needs to expend less energy on media relations and more energy on preparing for an end to the mission," the former foreign minister said.

Germany currently has around 4,800 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Bundeswehr deployment remains deeply unpopular in Germany.