The Netherlands does this at the NATO border

Prime Minister Schoof visited the Dutch soldiers active there in Lithuania. With this he wanted to encourage them for their contribution to the NATO mission there.

Commander of the Armed Forces Onno Eichelsheim is clear when it comes to the question of why the Netherlands is present in Lithuania. “You have to take scenarios into account. President Putin of Russia believes that the Baltic states belong to his sphere of influence, we have to prepare for that.”

It is therefore not surprising that Schoof is visiting the Dutch troops there just before Christmas. Since August this year, the Dutch have been in charge of the NATO advanced brigade in Lithuania.

The Netherlands currently has more than 300 soldiers present in the Baltic country for NATO. Our country has been active there since 2017 and due to the increasing Russian threat, that mission has already been extended twice.

“Although we wish each other peace on earth on this day every year, you know better than anyone: that peace does not come by itself,” Schoof said:

The brigades should mainly serve as a deterrent. “A stick to hit with,” Eichelsheim calls it. The Netherlands is therefore active in various countries for the alliance. In addition to the soldiers in Lithuania, our country defends NATO airspace from Estonia with F-35 fighter planes.

Unmanned aircraft from the Dutch army carry out reconnaissance flights in Romania. And from next month, the Netherlands will be in charge of a mission in the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The brigade is part of eight brigades that jointly guard NATO’s eastern border:

Escalation may be lurking. Yet Eichelsheim sees NATO deployment as necessary to enter into discussions with Russia. “Power politics is the politics of today, you have to respond to it. Not by escalating, but by responding to pinpricks that Russia regularly issues. If a Russian plane flies close to the border of the Baltic states, or even goes over it , then you have to show that you are there.”

Yet he also has concerns. Where Eichelsheim used to sleep like a baby, he now sometimes lies awake. As a result of which? “In particular the pace at which Russia is building up its troops. The industry is running well. At the moment, NATO experiences less threat because Russia is mainly active in Ukraine. But in the event of a possible truce, Russia could also become active in other areas, for example the Baltic states. We have to increase our pace to keep up with the Russian pace,” he explains.

In order to be able to respond quickly to threats on the eastern border of the NATO area, agreements were made at a summit in Madrid two years ago on how to deal with them.

Preparedness is increased in three steps:

For the Netherlands, this could mean that additional soldiers are necessary. “The question is whether the Netherlands can supply that,” notes defense specialist Dick Zandee of Clingendael. NATO now scales the brigades in the east to 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers per location. “Due to cutbacks, we currently have too few battalions (units of about 800 soldiers) that can relieve each other. And due to personnel shortages, this is not easily solved.”

And in the Netherlands itself? Eichelsheim does not have to think about it for long: “We see cyber attacks every day. Ships are searching the North Sea for data cables. Russians will not be driving around in the streets here with tanks anytime soon, it is far from that point, but they are trying to create chaos. to weaken us. That’s why we need time to prepare.”

Eichelsheim is not the first to say it. There is constant alarming language coming from defense circles. For example, NATO boss Mark Rutte called for preparedness last week. When asked when there will be a call to be kind to each other, the Commander of the Armed Forces chuckles.

“Yes,” he agrees, “you should always be kind to each other, also for solidarity, but you should not be naive. Recent calls have been to shake off naivety, you will not be able to achieve that with sweet words alone. “We also want peace, and all defense activities are also aimed at preventing war. But you have to do that with a strong stick.”