In the past five years, four soldiers left the Dutch armed forces due to right-wing extremist statements or behavior. Military intelligence service MIVD launched a total of 21 investigations into possible extremism in the armed forces, the vast majority of which involved suspicions of right-wing extremism, the Volkskrant reports based on a list the MIVD drew up after the newspaper appealed to the Intelligence and Security Services Act.
Defense
Jun 6 '19 17:50
The Netherlands entire contingency of 28 Apache helicopters was grounded due to an apparent “defect” in the tail rotor, the Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday. The problem was discovered during maintenance work, according to the ministry’s Defense Helicopter Command.
“Shutting down flight programs is a common measure for this type of observation,” the ministry said in a statement. The nature of the problem and its effects were under investigation and not revealed.
Jun 6 '19 09:33
An ABN Amro ATM on Gildeplein in Purmerend was blown open early on Thursday morning. A few hours after the ATM bombing, emergency services discovered a suspicious object they think may be an explosive that hasn't detonated. The Ministry of Defense's explosives clearance service is at the scene, the police said in a statement.
May 29 '19 10:09
This year the Dutch government is allocating extra money for Defense, climate measures, youth care and education, according to the Spring Memorandum that Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance sent to parliament. The extra money allocated to Defense is far too little, American ambassador Peter Hoekstra said to the Volkskrant.
May 23 '19 10:30
Major mistakes made by the Ministry of Defense led to incidents in which soldiers suffered heatstrokes during training in the Netherlands, television program Zembla reports based on "recent, confidential investigation reports".
May 17 '19 08:17
A 36-year-old Defense employee was arrested early in April for a serious violent crime in Oudenbosch. He is suspected of tricking his way into a young woman's home, tying her up and raping her, the Telegraaf reported on Friday.
May 16 '19 10:10
The Dutch military training mission in Iraq was suspended due to an increased threat in the region. The nature of the threat is unknown. The commander of the international coalition that coordinates training in the region ordered the mission to stop, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said to NU.nl.
This temporary halt applies to all international allies who provide training in the area. Some 50 to 60 Dutch soldiers were ordered to cease their work "until further notice" due to an increased threat.
May 13 '19 12:40
The Ministry of Defense suspended a platoon commander from the Royal Military Academy in Breda because he had a number of love affairs with female cadets, the Ministry confirmed to RTL Nieuws after reports in the Telegraaf.
The man involved is a captain in charge of a training platoon at the academy for upcoming officers, according to the broadcaster. The Ministry did not want to say anything more about the man's rank for privacy reasons.
May 7 '19 08:45
The European Union needs to set different priorities, and Germany must take the lead in this, according to Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra. In his lecture at the Humboldt University in Berlin on Tuesday, he will call for more attention for European defense, for protecting the external borders, for tackling the climate problem, and for making sure that all EU member states adhere to EU rules, NOS reports.
Apr 5 '19 08:30
An F16 fighter jet was severely damaged by its own ammunition during a training exercise above Vliehors on Vlieland on January 21st. Two fighter jets were shooting at a target with the on board gun. At least one cartridge hit the side of one of the F16s, parts of the ammunition also ending up in the engine, the Defense Security Inspectorate announced, NU.nl reports.
The F16's on board gun has a 20 mm caliber and shoots around 6 thousand cartridges per minute. No one was injured in the incident. Both fighter jets landes safely at Leeuwarden Air Base.
Mar 18 '19 07:32
Employees of various sectors are striking for better pensions and to freeze the retirement age at 66 throughout the Netherlands on Monday. The first and most disrupting strike was in public transit between 6:00 a.m. and 7:06 a.m. During that time no NS trains were running, as well as no trams, subways and buses in Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam.
Mar 14 '19 10:00
The police temporarily cordoned off the Grote Markt in Haarlem on Thursday morning after a suspicious package was found in front of the city hall. Investigation revealed that it was just an empty suitcase, ANP reports.
The suitcase was found on the landing of the city hall, which is located on Grote Markt, early in the morning. Defense's explosive disposal service investigated the suitcase and determined that it contained nothing dangerous. The square was released again at around 8:30 a.m.
The police call on witnesses who saw the suitcase being left there to come forward.
Jan 29 '19 09:05
The Defense Inspectorate launched investigations into two serious accidents at the Ministry of Defense, the Inspectorate said on its website.
The first incidents concerns a "serious injury to a soldier". The soldier was hurt during training at the Brigade Special Security Command in Huis ter Heide in October 2017.
The second investigation involves a F-16 fighter jet at the air base in Leeuwarden. The aircraft sustained "considerable damage" during shooting practice on the training ground for fighter aircraft on Vleiland on January 21st this year.
Jan 22 '19 12:20
A hand grenade was found in a the front yard of a home in Echt on Tuesday morning. Half an hour later, another grenade ws found in the front yard of a home in Holtum. The resident of the Holtum home is a member of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, the police confirmed to NU.nl. The resident of the Echt home does not belong to a motorcycle gang, but a member of such a gang lives on the same street, NU.nl reports.
Dec 20 '18 13:40
A hand grenade was found in the garden of a home on Aan de Linde in Nieuwstadt on Wednesday afternoon. The home in question belongs to Harrie Ramakers, president of the Sittard chapter of outlaw motorcycle gang Bandidos, NU.nl reports.
Dec 17 '18 16:00
A father and his child found an old grenade in Amsterdam while taking a walk on Sunday evening. The Ministry of Defense's explosive disposal department removed the grenade and safely detonated it, AT5 reports.
The grenade was found in the water on Catharina Boudewijnshof in Guezenveld. The father immediately called the police, who called in the explosive experts. They rendered the grenade harmless at the scene and then detonated it in the port area.
Dec 14 '18 08:03
The Ministry of Defense is ordering an investigation into abuses in the armed forces, State Secretary Barbara Visser said in a letter to parliament. Reports were received about inadmissible behavior at training institutes as well as another defense department, she said, NOS reports.
Dec 4 '18 10:15
Another explosive was found in Amsterdam, this time in front of a home on Westerduinenstraat. Defense's explosive disposal squad is on the way to investigate, the police said on Twitter. The area around the home is closed down.
Nov 22 '18 08:10
An explosive was found at a nightclub on Van der Hagenstraat in Zoetermeer on Wednesday evening, the police said on Twitter. Defense's explosive disposal team dismantled it on site.
The police closed down the area around the club at around 9:30 p.m., according to ANP. The Defense team removed the explosive from the site after making sure it would not detonate.
Where the explosive came from, is not yet clear. The police are investigating.
Nov 1 '18 08:50
The police again discovered a hand grenade on Bijlmerplein in Amsterdam Zuidoost. The explosive was found around 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, in the same spot where another grenade was found last week, according to AT5.
Defense's explosive removal department went to collect the object and took it away for further investigation, NU.nl reports. They concluded that it was indeed a hand grenade, and then dismantled the explosive.
Oct 26 '18 12:30
Hundreds of Dutch soldiers will be living in hotels around Zeist in the coming months because the conditions of the sleeping barracks at their home base, Huis ter Heide, are so bad that they can no longer be used, newspaper AD reports.
Oct 25 '18 07:39
The police found what they believe is a hand grenade at Bijlmerplein in Amsterdam during the early hours of Thursday morning. They responded to the scene around 4:00 a.m. after a report of shots being fired, the Amsterdam police said on Twitter.
On Bijlmerplein they found no injured person, but did find a possible grenade on the street. Defense's explosive disposal team is at the scene, NU.nl reports. The police are waiting for the team to finish its work before they can start a trace evidence investigation.
Oct 24 '18 12:30
An explosive was found at a business premises on Lemelerbergweg in Amsterdam Zuidoost during the early hours of Wednesday morning. The police can not yet say what type of explosive was involved, NU.nl reports.
Police officers responded to a report of an explosive on the street at around 3:00 a.m. At the scene the officers indeed found an explosive. Defense's explosive disposal service was called in to make sure the explosive wasn't going to blow up so that forensic investigators could do a trace evidence investigation at the scene.
Oct 23 '18 07:59
A Dutch soldier died in hospital on Sunday after becoming unwell during a Corps Commando training exercise in a swimming pool in Roosendaal last week. The soldier involved was a corporal. He died of complications caused by the incident, newspaper AD reports.
The accident happened at swimming pool De Stok in Roosendaal during the early hours of Friday morning. Exactly what happened is not yet clear. Colleagues saw the soldier becoming unwell in the water and called the emergency services. He was rushed to hospital.
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