'war' - tagged features

In the Netherlands recent news of Dutch soldiers being killed and wounded in Afghanistan has led the Dutch people to question their role in NATO’s operation there. A year ago Dutch troops were thought to be on a reconstruction mission - but as more of them get killed it's becoming clear there’s lot of hard fighting to be done. But it's not that NATO's stated aim in Afghanistan has changed. It hasn’t. It’s the Dutch public who’ve had a rude awakening to the realities of a new war. So why didn't they realise this was always going to be an offensive operation? Were Dutch voters hoodwinked by politicians into supporting a fighting force dressed in the sheep's clothing of peacekeepers? When deliberating on whether to get involved in the mission, the Dutch government put the emphasis on reconstruction. It was the prospect of helping rebuild Afghanistan which won over a majority of MPs. 

Twelve years ago, Dutch troops were supposed to protect the Muslims in Srebrenica, but the UN-declared safe haven was overrun by Bosnian Serbs in 1995. Some eight thousand Muslim men and boys were killed by their captors after the fall of the town, Now relatives of those who were massacred in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica twelve years ago are suing the Dutch state for compensation. 

It's been four years since the fall of Saddam Hussein... but Iraq is still a far cry from the haven of Middle East peace and democracy once promised by the US-led coalition. More than 2 million Iraqis have fled the country in hope of a better life elsewhere. And more than 80 thousand Iraqi refugees have settled in Sweden - thanks to Stockholm's open asylum policy - an exception in Europe. But more and more Swedes says they're stretched to the limit and this welcoming policy needs to change. For Network Europe Radio Netherlands' Perro de Jong has this report from Rosengård, a suburb of Malmö. 

As Israel's military campaign against the Hezbollah in Lebanon continues, the European Union is also increasing its efforts to bring about a cessation of hostilities as soon as possible. Radio Sweden's Azariah Kiros takes a closer look at the conflict - its roots and repercussions. 

Those first moments of Beirut's airport being blasted by Israeli fighter-bombers were for many on site, one more chapter in a long history of conflict. Many Lebanese were determined to stay put even as tourists swarmed to evacuate. Our reporter Serena Möller was one of them. 

Many Poles boarded government planes, landing in Syria. But as we'll hear from Michal Zajac in Warsaw, not everyone packed their bags. 

Cologne is housing German-Lebanese refugees in temporary shelters. Despite the problems that now face her, one mother is thankful to have gotten her family to safety. Deutche Welle's Kirsten Rulf hears how this family of six escaped with just one suitcase. 

Tens of thousands of evacuees streamed into the usually sleepy holiday resort of Cyprus. How are residents coping? Our correspondent Tabitha Morgan reports on their calls for international help. 

Romania has repatriated three quarters of its citizens from Lebanon. But in Northern Israel, most Romanian immigrants have chosen to stay. Radio Romania International files from Bucharest.