Defense State Secretary against military conscription

There is no chance that forced conscription into military service in the Netherlands will be reintroduced, said the state secretary for defense, Christophe van der Maat. "We are not going back to conscription. We are a force of professionals," he said in an interview with Trouw.

However, Van der Maat is investigating a version of conscription based on the Scandinavian model. Young people would be invited to participate, but only those who actually want to join would then be evaluated and trained.

The state secretary has other solutions for the personnel problem in the armed forces in mind, he told the newspaper. For example, he wants to make it easier to "hop" between different parts of the armed forces by better harmonizing the personnel policy of the four military branches, the Army, Air Force, Navy, and the Marechaussee military policing service.

Van der Maat also wants to work on the goal-orientation of young people. "It starts with the veteran standing in front of the class," says Van der Maat. "That 17th year of life is the moment when you really have to encounter those young guests and say, "Think carefully, the armed forces are a 'no regrets' step for your career," said the state secretary to Trouw.