Netherlands and Hungary to pull out of Iraq

Two more members of the US-led coalition are to pull out of Iraq
after the Netherlands and Hungary announced plans to withdraw their
troops next year. Bulgaria will cut its
military presence.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány announced on 3 November that
Hungary would withdraw its 300 troops from Iraq in March 2005,
after the January elections. 

“To stay there until elections are completed is an obligation,
to stay there for much longer is an impossibility,” Mr Gyurcsány
reportedly said. 

Last week, the Dutch Defence ministry had announced it would
send a fifth and final contingent of 1,350 soldiers to Iraq from
mid-November to March 2005 to help oversee the elections. This “is
the last Dutch contribution to the stabilisation force. This
mission will end the Dutch contribution,” the defence ministry said
in a statement.

In a similar move, the Bulgarian Defence Ministry said it would
cut its military presence in Iraq by ten per cent, leaving its
troop count to 430.

The UK, Italy and Poland are the only EU countries which have
not planned to withdraw.

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