Netherlands offers military protection to Finland, Sweden ahead of NATO decision

Sweden and Finland can count on the protection of the Netherlands and other European countries pending their NATO membership, says Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren. She explains that the EU countries have promised to come to each other's aid if one of them is attacked. The Netherlands can offer naval assistance, for example.

The traditionally neutral countries of Sweden and Finland said they no longer feel safe considering their proximity to Russia, and they want to join NATO. Russia is vehemently against this and is threatening reprisals. The two Northern European countries are asking what their Western allies can do to guarantee their security before they may be allowed to invoke NATO's protection. The United States, the United Kingdom, and a number of other Northern European countries have already issued security guarantees.

As Sweden and Finland are members of the European Union, "the European security guarantee applies anyway," Ollongren said before the start of consultations with her EU colleagues in Brussels. In addition, "we already work with them a lot" and Sweden and Finland also belong to a group of Northern European countries whose armies often work and practice together.

The Netherlands can "definitely make a contribution" to the security of the Swedes and Finns while they are still in the NATO waiting room, according to Ollongren. She emphasized that the navy is already active in the Baltic Sea in a NATO context. "There are more than enough possibilities. We just have to see together what is best and where we can do more."