Defense ministry wants extra €2 billion for armed forces

Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert wants an extra 2 billion euros for the armed forces in the coming years, to bring the Netherlands up to the average spent by other European NATO countries, she said on radio program Kamerbreed on Saturday. Hennis thinks that 2 billion euros is a "logical target" to aim for. "And that really does not need to be in one year", she said, according to ANP. She thinks that the Netherlands should aim for at least matching other European NATO countries' average. The European average for investing in Defense is 1.43 percent of their gross domestic product. The Netherlands currently spends 1.13 percent of the GDP on the armed forces. Hennis wants to soon have a meeting with Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem to talk about extra money for Defense.