In November, Minister Kajsa Ollongren (Defense) told the House of Representatives that the Netherlands would send fifty to one hundred soldiers to Eumam, a so-called EU training mission. Since September, the Netherlands has already sent 180 military personnel to other training missions in the United Kingdom.
The European Commission has earmarked around 100 million euros for training. The military exercise will take place in various European countries, including the Netherlands, but mainly in Germany and Poland.
The first 15,000 Ukrainians will be trained before the summer, and the other half will follow. European countries often cooperate at the European level, but for the Commission to take the initiative for such a massive step is exceptional.
More obvious
From September to November, the Army has already provided ninety soldiers for a training mission in the United Kingdom. From January to April, another ninety soldiers were training Ukrainians in the United Kingdom, this time soldiers from the Marine Corps. According to the ministry, the soldiers there undergo specialized training such as driving and sailing courses, medical training, training in demining and piloting drones.
The House of Representatives will discuss the Eumam exercise on Tuesday. The Defense Ministry says it wants to be more transparent about military support for Ukraine. The ministry said in a statement that military support will be explained in more detail as soon as possible Journal report. In its own words, the cabinet wanted to share more ‘in the interest of public debate and to maintain public support for Dutch military support’.
The Netherlands has earmarked 2.5 billion euros for support to Ukraine this year, and last year it already spent about 1 billion euros. For example, the Netherlands, together with Denmark and Germany, provide Ukraine with at least a hundred Leopard 1 battle tanks. To prevent military support from depleting its own army, the ministry prefers to purchase material goods directly from the military department, rather than supplying them from its own stockpiles.
