Call for help from Holland

Parts of the Dutch armed forces are not ready for action. High-ranking officers in the country dared to go public with this statement and demand more money.

The four men had come demonstratively in their usual work uniforms and with their sleeves rolled up. It was intended to symbolise down-to-earthness and the will to get things done. However, the four inspectors of the Dutch armed forces actually wanted to come clean and speak plainly in an interview with the daily newspaper Trouw. Vice Admiral Rob Kramer, Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten, emphasised that this was a difficult step for them to take. Because soldiers don't normally complain. "If they ask us to jump a metre, then we can always jump half a metre further. But at that moment, we have to say with pain: this is no longer free."

Then they point out what is currently not working in the Dutch armed forces. Lieutenant General Dennis Luyt, inspector of the air force, says that he is actually obliged to have around 30 fighter planes on standby, but does not currently have a single one ready for rapid deployment. Of the 22 ships and boats under the command of Admiral Kramer, half are in harbour. The problem is not corona, but the lack of personnel and material to send the ships into action. As a result, the navy is currently unable to fulfil its core tasks, such as maintaining a permanent presence off the coast. There is also currently a lack of the clearance work required for the construction of wind turbines in the North Sea in order to localise and remove contaminated sites. And certainly no warships that can protect the routes of merchant ships worldwide from pirates and other threats over a longer period of time. Similarly, there is currently no question of resuming the participation of Dutch ships in Operation Irini in the Mediterranean.

The issue is money. This year, the Netherlands is providing 11.727 billion euros for defence. Most of this will be spent on personnel. The approximately 40,000 soldiers, 20,000 civilian employees and 6,000 reservists require a good 51 per cent of the budget, including pensions. A further quarter is invested in new equipment. A total of 795 million euros is available for the navy's current expenditure in 2021.

Not enough to fulfil all of the politicians' orders, according to the four top military officers. Although the budget has been increased by around three billion euros since 2014, there is still a gap between the commitment to NATO and the funds available. The Dutch only spend 1.4 percent of their gross domestic product on defence, far below the two percent agreed at NATO level. To reach this figure, spending would have to increase by four billion euros. "We are the underperformers in NATO, while everyone knows how rich we are," complains Martin Wijnen, Chief of Defence. He also makes a drastic comparison: "We are like members of a football club who don't pay our dues and also shirk our cash service". To which Luyt adds: "And when we stand at the bar ourselves, we make the others pay. We're the really ugly members." The word "parasites" is even used. Additional money could be used to buy new weapons and make existing ones ready for use again. The inspectors also want to offer people in the armed forces more than just a job. "Join the navy, see the world. I can't offer them that when they [the ships, ed.] are lying at the pier in Den Helder," emphasised Admiral Kramer.

The four inspectors also realise that this would not currently find support among the population of the small country. In their opinion, the people do not feel threatened, they have lived in peace with their neighbours for decades and are too far away from the threats in the east and south of the continent. "I would like to take the Dutch to Lithuania, where our people are stationed," said Lieutenant General Martin Wijnen, head of the army. "There they feel every day the proximity of an enemy like Russia, which does not mean well with us."

Dutch Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten also supports the call for a significant increase in the budget. It is therefore hardly surprising that excerpts from the interview can be found on the website of the Dutch Ministry of Defence. It's better to fight together.

Text: mb; Photo: Koninklijke Marine