Netherlands increases defense spending
According to the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation NOS, the Dutch government plans to increase defense spending next year at NATO’s insistence. The exact amount of the increase will be announced in the spring. Current information only reveals that the Netherlands will purchase more tanks and fighter jets.
The Netherlands’s militarization priorities include an investment in fifteen F-35 fighters in addition to the already agreed 37 aircraft, strengthening land and sea forces, and increased attention to cyber and information security.
Dutch Minister of Defence Ank Bijleveld said that this move fulfills agreements reached during the July NATO summit. She declared that more threats have appeared and that the security environment is becoming increasingly unstable.
NATO members agreed to allocate 2% of their GDP to defense spending over the next ten years. Without further steps, the Netherlands is estimated to spend up to only 1.21% by 2024.