The Dutch contribution to operation Amber Fox
The Netherlands supplied a brigade headquarters. The headquarters kicked off with an ambitious training program. TFF maintained contacts with the Macedonian authorities and with the official and unofficial representatives of the ethnic Albanian community.
This meant that in the event of violent incidents, the TFF commander was able to persuade the parties involved to de-escalate the situation.
Elections
An approach which ultimately proved particularly successful. The North Atlantic Council reinforced TFF, at the request of the Netherlands, in the period around the elections. The willingness of the international community to supply the required units was, however, limited. The government eventually decided on 16 August 2002 to provide 3 additional FLTs as well as 2 CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters for medical evacuation tasks and a signal unit, all on a temporary basis.
The election campaign started on 14 August and lasted until 14 September 2002. The NATO force expanded its working area to cover the whole of Macedonia on 26 August. The elections produced a victory for the parties that supported the Ohrid agreement and the extra reinforcements thus received orders on 23 September to prepare for their return to the Netherlands.
Mandate extended
The president of Macedonia asked NATO at the beginning of October to extend TFF's mandate until 15 December 2002 in order to further consolidate the situation in the country. NATO agreed to this on condition that the Netherlands extended its stay. The cabinet agreed to this on 11 October. TFF’s mandate expired with the transition to a new, smaller operation - Allied Harmony - on 15 December 2002. A transport detachment of 240 people was flown in in December to transport all the equipment to Thessaloniki. They returned to the Netherlands on 9 January 2003.