Dutch defense minister pushes for unrestricted military aid to Ukraine
Photo: Office of the President
There should be no restrictions when it comes to military aid to Ukraine. The security of the Netherlands also depends on this.
The Minister of Defense of the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren, stated this in the NOS radio program.
"When it comes to weapons, conventional weapons, training, and spare parts, in my opinion, there should be no borders," the minister said and emphasized the importance of continuing to provide aid to Ukraine.
According to the minister, it is essential to continue supporting Ukraine.
"I think we've evolved in the way we do it. We started supplying [weapons – ed.] from our warehouses. Now, we do it in cooperation with other countries and industries because we also need to support our stocks," she added.
Ollongen emphasized that Ukraine benefits from military support and the security of the Netherlands since, even though it is a member of the EU and NATO, it is no longer immune to a full-scale war.
In particular, she criticized one of the deputies of the Netherlands, who said last week in the House of Representatives that supporting Ukraine is a provocation for Russia.
"That's the sound the Kremlin wants to hear. We have to be honest about it. When you say, 'The West is provoking Russia,' that echoes what Putin is also saying. That's a false perception," Ollongren noted.
It is worth noting that since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Netherlands has provided Ukraine with military support in the amount of 2.63 billion euros. These include combat vehicles, air defense systems, F-16 fighters, ammunition, field beds, and computers.
For reference:
The Dutch government has earmarked 2 billion euros of military support for Ukraine next year:
- 295 million euros as a contribution to the European Peace Fund,
- 89 million euros for justice,
- three million euros for non-military cyber support.
In addition, at the beginning of November, after visits to Kharkiv and Kyiv, Ollongren promised to allocate 500 million euros to Ukraine for ammunition.
Earlier, the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Great Britain agreed to work on forming an international coalition of fighter jets for Ukraine.
In November, the first F-16s for training pilots from Ukraine, which the Netherlands previously sent, arrived at the training center in Romania.
As reported by Rubryka, at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in the "Ramstein" format on January 23, another country – the Netherlands – joined the IT coalition.
