Dutch Parliament opposed to Von der Leyen's €800 billion European defense plan
A narrow majority of parliamentarians signaled they do not support the Dutch Cabinet's willingness to take part in the European Commission’s bid to raise European Union defense spending by 800 billion euros. The leaders of the EU Member States unanimously agreed to the plan last week, with Prime Minister Dick Schoof joining his counterparts in requesting that European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen's plans be developed further. However, the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch Parliament, backed a motion on Tuesday indicating its displeasure with her ReArm Europe proposal in its current state, and calling on the Netherlands to back out of the plan.
The motion against the Dutch participation in ReArm Europe was passed by a 73-71 majority of those voting, out of 150 people serving in the Tweede Kamer. While Schoof is in favor of ReArm Europe, as is coalition party VVD, coalition partners PVV, BBB and NSC voted to support the motion opposing their own Cabinet.
The motion from JA21 leader Joost Eerdmans stated that “the Netherlands is fundamentally opposed to joint European loans, and that defense expenditure must remain a national resource.” The majority of the Tweede Kamer voted to request that the Cabinet “not allow the Netherlands to participate in ReArm Europe, and, if necessary, to negotiate an opt-out,” according to the text submitted by Eerdmans.
"It is unacceptable that the Netherlands isolates itself like this via the Tweede Kamer," said GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans after the vote. "Three of the four coalition parties have thrown the prime minister under the bus today."
PVV leader Geert Wilders said earlier that Schoof will have to go back to Brussels and tell them the Dutch are opposed to ReArm Europe if the Tweede Kamer voted for Eerdmans' motion. "That's how it should be in a democracy," indicating that Schoof should have sought Parliament's approval beforehand.
Von Der Leyen unveiled her ReArm Europe plan a week ago, calling on Member States to increase their defense spending by an average of 1.5 percent of their gross domestic product. This would then raise roughly 650 billion euros over the coming four years. The remaining 150 billion euros would be raised by Eurobonds, with the debt shared across all Member States as a means to pool resources and demand to gain better access to equipment like missiles, drones, air defenses, anti-drone systems, and cybersecurity investments with a stronger negotiating position.
NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt said that his party stands side-by-side with Ukraine, and supports the country’s need to defend itself and its sovereignty from Russia, as stated in the coalition agreement with his party and the PVV, BBB, and VVD. His party is not against ReArm Europe, specifically, but it is “fundamentally against Eurobonds, and fundamentally against relaxing budgetary rules.”
“The world is changing extremely fast,” said D66 leader Rob Jetten during the debate about the motion. He said it is no longer possible to rely solely on the support from the United States. “We here in Europe are responsible for our security.” He pointed out that last Thursday, all member states voted in favor of ReArm Europe. Parliament sending a signal that it is against the European plan would not only “isolate” the Netherlands, but it also threatens to strip Prime Minister Dick Schoof of his influence within the European Union and the European Commission.
The money is set to be raised via European loans while temporarily abandoning the European budget rules. Many experts believe that this joint borrowing plan is just a small part of what will be needed and that Eurobonds may be the next step, something that many parties in the Tweede Kamer strongly oppose.
GroenLinks-PvdA MP Jesse Klaver echoed similar sentiments, raising concerns about the threats to European security amid current geopolitical changes. “For some parties in this house, they remain against unlimited investment in the military,” he noted. Other parties are against EU spending and eurobonds as a matter of principle. But “these are exceptional times,” he continued, and he called on his colleagues to set “partisan political standpoints” aside for this vote.
"I think we are not sending the prime minister to Europe with a clear message," said CDA leader Henri Bontenbal after the vote.
The motion was initially voted on last Wednesday, but it resulted in a tie. Eerdmans was unable to as he was stuck in traffic. Like last week, the PVV, NSC and the BBB voted against the measure.
Other European countries have expressed their support for the plan in the last few days. British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and newly elected German Chancellor Friederich Merz expressed their support publicly.
France is organizing a meeting about the European military cooperation. The meeting will mainly be discussing support for Ukraine. Top European military officials have been invited to France, and the Netherlands is also participating in the discussions.
Italy to boycott UK-France-led meeting on Ukraine – media
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will no take part in an upcoming video conference proposed by UK and France, in which a so-called “coalition of the willing” intends to increase military support for Ukraine, La Repubblica and La Stampa newspapers have reported.
In its article on Tuesday, La Repubblica said that “it is certain” that Meloni will boycott the virtual meeting of the Western European leaders being convened by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday.
The Italian PM reportedly “distances herself from the Franco-British axis” due to her disagreement with the push by London and Paris to send peacekeepers to aid Kiev. Meloni believes that Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are “rushing ahead” with their idea, according to La Repubblica.
The move by Rome could “split the front that Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are trying to build,” La Stampa noted.
The media outlet claimed that the Italian authorities had decided to drop out of the video conference after extensive discussions with other governments, including the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Starmer announced that the UK and France are ready to lead a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine with troops and aircraft during an emergency summit in London in early March. This came shortly after Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky had a public disagreement at the White House, where Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of opposing peace with Russia and being ungrateful for US assistance.
Shortly after the summit, Meloni stressed that “Italy will not be sending troops to Ukraine.” She suggested that European politicians should instead focus on developing conditions for a just and lasting peace between Moscow and Kiev, including security guarantees for Ukraine.
The idea that Europe can replace the USA in its proxy war with Russia is absurd. Europe can't possibly win the war. It can only end up with tens of thousands more deaths and injuries, more of Ukraine destroyed, and lots of filthy money in the hands of the War Industry oligarchs. As well as continued recession and excessive costs of energy for most Europeans.
Earlier this week, the Italian PM expressed “satisfaction” with the outcome of the talks between the US and Ukraine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which ended with Kiev agreeing to an “immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire.” She said that Rome “fully supports” Trump’s peace efforts and that “the decision is now up to Russia.”
Moscow has said repeatedly that it would not accept a temporary ceasefire with Kiev, insisting that the conflict must be settled through reliable, legally binding agreements that would eliminate its root causes. Russia has also categorically ruled out the possibility of Western European peacekeepers arriving in Ukraine.
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