Dutch PM: Quick decision on €3.5B for Ukraine was more important than Cabinet rift

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof was reluctant to speak about the latest divide that formed among coalition parties at his press conference on Friday. This time, the rift involved a dispute over the 3.5 billion euros that the Cabinet plans to spend on Ukraine next year. Schoof's press conference came a short time after Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umyerov landed at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on Friday for a visit to The Hague. “Sometimes you have to act quickly,” Schoof said in a measured response to questions about why he announced the amount on Wednesday without support from coalition parties PVV and BBB.

Those parties indicated they felt ambushed, and there was anger directed towards Schoof on Friday morning before the regular weekly Cabinet meeting. “We are going to have a serious discussion about this,” said Health Minister and PVV Deputy Prime Minister Fleur Agema. A day earlier, BBB politician Henk Vermeer ​​already said that he wanted clarification from the prime minister. Vermeer suspected it was a quick maneuver between Schoof, who is not a member of a political party, and VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz.

During the parliamentary debate that followed, she submitted a motion to gain political support for the billions of euros earmarked for Ukraine. She received this from the largest opposition party, GroenLinks-PvdA, among others. The PVV and BBB voted against it on Thursday morning.

Schoof emphasized the importance of the billions of euros in support at his press conference on Friday, but did not want to elaborate further. "We discussed it thoroughly in the Council of Ministers,” he said of the Cabinet meeting. He claimed there was no debate that will derail the 3.5 billion euro package. "That amount is there." Schoof also announced on Wednesday after a conversation with Zelenskyy that the Netherlands will help Ukraine with the purchase and development of new drones at a cost of 700 million euros.

The prime minister disputed that the public-facing unity of Cabinet policy was broken when Agema expressed her dissatisfaction regarding the course of events. "They reacted of their own accord," Schoof said in explanation of statements from Agema and others, like Housing Minister Mona Keijzer, who is the designatied deputy prime minister from BBB. He emphasized that the entire Cabinet now supports the plan, and hopes to soon get the parliamentary factions from the PVV and BBB on board as well. He said that he "cares a great deal about that."

Keijzer is no stranger to internal Cabinet controversy. She was fired from her position as the State Secretary for Economic Affairs after publicly splitting from Prime Minister Mark Rutte's third Cabinet. At the time, she was with the CDA when she criticized the government's plan to limit access to events based on an individual's coronavirus test status or their Covid-19 vaccination history.

On Friday morning, Keijzer said was also surprised by Schoof's promise, mainly referring to "the speed at which it happened, and the amount. But she finds it “understandable in itself” that something had to be done. She also emphasized that the Cabinet speaks with one voice and that she therefore also supports Schoof’s pledge.

The prime minister became visibly irritated at the press conference when the issue was questioned further. “Not again, okay?” and “Wow,” he sighed when asked whether Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans and Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp were aware of the decision before they started the political debate on Wednesday. Schoof hinted that he himself took most of the initiative in making the announcement, because he wanted to send “a signal” at the Brussels summit the next day that the Netherlands supports Ukraine. “That is really what is happening, that is what the real discussion is about.”

It was not clear if Umyerov's visit to the Netherlands on behalf of the Ukrainian government is related to the recent discussions. The purpose of his visit is not publicly known, and the Dutch Ministry of Defense was not commenting. The minister is touring European allies and has already been to England, Poland and Germany. Earlier on Friday he met with Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief.

Umyerov’s plane landed in Rotterdam just past 1:30 p.m. after a short flight from Brussels. Umyerov was received outside the plane and after a short photo opportunity, left in a convoy of cars towards The Hague. He had also visited Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans earlier last month.