Vast majority of Defense staff don't trust Minister, leadership

Two thirds of Defense personnel have no confidence in the top military leadership, according to a survey of nearly 8,500 Defense employees by military unions AFMP, ACOM, VBM and KVMO. More than 84 percent say that Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert does not give them more confidence in the organization, the Telegraaf reports.

Material shortages, insufficient staff care and inadequate employment conditions were particularly mentioned, according to the newspaper. The shortage of ammunition for training and a gap in the state pension that means that military pensions are too low are also still major headaches within the Defense organization. The results of the survey will be presented in The Hague on Tuesday morning.

The results of this poll shows almost no improvement to previous, similar surveys in 2013 and 2014. This is despite the fact that major cutbacks were stopped and the Defense budget was increased in the mean time.

"You may see this as an outright vote of no confidence addressed both to the Minister and to the top of Defense. The staff gives the Minister especially a red card", AFMP president Anne-Marie Snels said to the newspaper.

The survey was completed anonymously, partly because Defense personnel are not authorized to speak about the Ministry's policy in public.