Reformed politician wants tanks for the Dutch army

"We have a constitutional duty to defend our citizens", Reformed MP Chris Stoffer said on Monday morning in a Dutch TV show. According to the Christian politician, the Netherlands should invest in a new tank battalion partly because the Dutch is one of the world's wealthiest countries. "For years, we have benefitted from the financial support from the United States, but as a rich country, we should be able to sustain ourselves."

At the moment, the Dutch do not have any tanks. They are currently leasing eighteen armoured fighting machines from their neighbour, Germany. Although there are plans to buy these tanks, the idea is to give them to Ukraine immediately after purchase.

Although the SGP has advocated for more investment in the armed forces for years, the party often had no success in turning these ideas into practice. In 2014, it was decided that every NATO Member State would spend two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) annually on defence. "The Netherlands did not meet that quota for years. That is why we want to include that percentage in the law; then there will be no more discussion. But besides money, we also want our armed forces actually to get the gear it needs now," Stoffer said.

Promise

In February 2022, the Netherlands spent around 1,5 per cent of their GDP on the armed forces. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a liberal, promised NATO to spend 2 per cent of the Dutch GDP in 2024. However, with the current plans, the budget for that year will be around 1,85 per cent, Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws reports.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he expects the alliance's member states to raise their current spending target on defence of 2 per cent when they meet for a summit in Vilnius in July, Reuters reports. "The two per cent target was initially for a decade, so until 2024, we have to update it now."

Although the Defense Department welcomes the extra money in the Netherlands, experts fear that it will not be enough to make the Dutch defence system healthy again. "For years, we have had budget cuts which caused vacancies to be left open. Now, we do not have the time to catch up", Jan Kropf says. Mr Kropf is the chairman of the Dutch Trade Union for people working in the Department of Defense. According to the union, there are currently nine thousand vacancies. "That is about a quarter of the people we should have," Mr Kropf said.