Netherlands advised to seek allies in south Europe after Brexit

The Netherlands should approach Spain and France to form an alliance in the European Union to replace Great Britain as an ally after the Brexit, according to the advisory council on international affairs AIV. Parliament asked the AIV to look into which diplomatic strategy the Netherlands should follow now that Great Britain is leaving the European Union, NU.nl reports.

In an earlier strategy, the Netherlands planned to focus on the small northern countries. Like the Netherlands, they would support free trade and give economy high priority, like Britain also did years ago. But Sweden, Estonia and Ireland will not help the Netherlands to a majority in voting in the EU, according to the AIV. This requires the support of one or more large countries, the council said.

The Netherlands should therefore look at collaborating with France and Spain, according to the AIV. To achieve this, the Netherlands should no longer oppose higher contributions to the EU budget and should seek better connections with those two countries on other subjects.