Dutch PM agrees to EU rearmament plan, but again stressed objection to joint loans
The leaders of the 27 European Union member states, including Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, all agreed to “resolutely” increase defense preparedness at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. At the same time, Schoof once again made clear that the Netherlands is against joint loans to increase defense spending, NOS reports.
No hard decisions were made at the summit, but the leaders agreed to support the European Commission’s goal to rearm Europe by 2030 with sufficient deterrent power and a well-function defense industry. About 800 billion euros is involved in this plan.
According to Schoof, his reiteration of the Netherlands’ stance against Eurobonds came as no surprise to the other EU leaders. “Our position was already known, no one is nervous about it.” The Netherlands wants to increase defense spending in other ways, Schoof said, stressing financial stability and “debt sustainability.” But he also said that he does not want to have an “accountant mentality.”
The EU leaders must now take the provisional proposal and get approval for it in their own countries. Schoof expects to get that done with the Spring Memorandum, the spring update to the national budget. “That’s in three to four weeks. We can take that.”
Next week, Schoof will join another EU summit in Paris with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They will continue the discussion on the “coalition of the willing” for defending Ukraine against Russia.
