Dutch soldiers heading to Romania

A group of 150 Dutch soldiers is heading to Romania for a military exercise. The exercise was supposed to happen in Germany, but NATO asked that it be moved to the border area of Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, NOS report.

The Dutch soldiers departed from Schiphol on Monday morning. They'll be training with a military unit from the United States in Romania, about 100 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

"NATO asked member states to see if we can do activities that show that we are strong as NATO and that we can defend ourselves if we have to," Laurens van Leussen, Commander of the Airmobile Brigade, said to NOS. "We are going to train with NATO partners in Romania."

He stressed that the Dutch soldiers aren't going to protect the border between Romania and Ukraine. "Of course, it is a different situation. We follow the developments in Ukraine closely. That also makes this a special exercise for us. But the content of the exercise is as we always do in the Airmobile Brigade. We are a quickly deployable unit worldwide, who always trained with other units. And now, in this case, in Romania."