Europe’s reaction to the conflict between Russia and Georgia is ‘half-baked’, Liberal (VVD) MP Hans van Baalen is reported to have said on a tv interview on Wednesday.

Van Baalen is a candidate to lead the VVD’s European election campaign.
Russia should be criticised more sharply because it should respect Georgian territory, Van Baalen is reported as saying. He was referring to the fact that Russian troops moved into the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia last week.
According to Van Baalen the European Union is afraid of Russia because it is dependent on its gas and has other commerical interests in the country.
In a separate tv interview on Wednesday evening, war correspondent Arnold Karskens called for an inquiry into the death of Dutch camera man Stan Storimans who was killed during a bombardment on the Georgian city of Gori earlier this week.