Minister of Veterans Affairs Albina Guarnieri says the Opposition is to blame for her early return to the House of Commons.

In Europe for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, Guarnieri had been scheduled to attend commemoration ceremonies this week.

Instead, she's on standby to head back to Ottawa.

In an interview from Brussels, Belgium, the minister said she regrets having to hurry back to Parliament.

"This should have been a week to put politics aside and focus in on the veterans," Guarnieri told CTV's Canada AM on Monday. Blame for her premature return, she added, lies with the Opposition.

"The shenanigans of the Tories and the Bloc have cast a shadow over celebrations," she said, blasting them for reneging on a pairing arrangement that would have also sent two of their MPs to Europe.

Watching developments in Ottawa early Monday, CTV Parliamentary bureau chief Robert Fife said Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal minority is clearly wary of falling.

"The Liberals are simply not going to take any chances that somehow during the next week of parliamentary maneuvering," there could be a vote of non-confidence in their minority government, Fife told CTV's Canada AM.

But with the budget vote apparently delayed by last week's deal with the NDP, and the three opposition non-confidence motions making their way through the House slowly, Fife says few in the capital expect a critical test this week.

"An Opposition day non-confidence motion is expected on May 19, he added, "but the Government may also be able to delay that."

Nevertheless, in the event of such a vote, every MP's ballot will be crucial. Counting on their deal with the NDP, the Liberals control just 150 seats, versus the combined Conservative-Bloc Quebecois total of 153.

The return of Guarnieri as well as NDP veterans affairs critic Peter Stoffer means no federally elected officials will be attending the weeks' VE-Day events.

Last week, the election-wary prime minister drew fire with the announcement Paul Martin would not be attending commemorations of the end of the Second World War in Europe this year.