2024-09-11 13:23:47
Paris: A big country in Europe is strengthening its army amid the fear of war. For this, it has decided to buy the world’s most powerful fighter aircraft F-35. Apart from this, it will also include anti-submarine frigates in its naval fleet. This country has also decided to replace its main battle tank. All this is being done in view of the increasing possibility of Russia’s attack on Europe. The name of this country is Netherlands. Netherlands is also a founding member of NATO and a close ally of America. Netherlands wants to prepare a more reliable military force that is capable of stopping any attack.
Netherlands will increase defense budget
The Netherlands government will increase defense expenditure by 2.4 billion euros or $2.65 billion per year. This also includes additional spending of 1.5 billion euros on combat power. The Netherlands has also said that it will increase its defense budget to 24 billion euros per year, which is almost double the budget spent by the Netherlands on defense in 2022. Regarding this, the Netherlands government has also released a defense paper, which presents a blueprint of future military plans and policies to implement them.
Netherlands fears Russian attack
The defence paper says the Netherlands needs to be prepared for a possible Russian attack on a NATO member such as Lithuania or Poland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Introducing the paper on Thursday, Dutch State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman said the Netherlands must be prepared to fight wars of necessity rather than the “wars of choice” of recent decades. “The brutal invasion shows that an attack on the NATO alliance is no longer unthinkable,” Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said. “The Netherlands must step in to protect our security. We must act to deter our enemies, defend NATO’s external borders and prevent further war in Europe. We have no time to lose.”
Netherlands is preparing army for war
Brekelmans said that while the Netherlands may seem peaceful, in reality the country is in a “grey zone” of neither peace nor war, facing daily attacks and constant espionage on digital systems, companies, ports and power grids. He said the Dutch can no longer choose where they can contribute to the world’s conflict zones, but must be prepared to defend national territory. Dutch Defence Chief General Otto Eichelsheim said, “This is no small change. This is a turning point in the history of the Dutch armed forces, and it requires a fundamentally different way of thinking. Instead of carefully preparing and planning every single mission, in the near future our military, our citizens, must be ready every day.”