Military Watch Magazine

Dutch Defence Ministry Confirms Ukraine Aid Is Undermining Army Readiness and NATO Goals

Military assistance provided by the Netherlands to Ukraine is having a significant effect on the combat readiness of the Dutch armed forces and is complicating the country’s ability to fulfil NATO military capability targets, according to the Dutch Ministry of Defence. The ministry described the effect of military assistance to Ukraine as a “displacing effect” on the readiness of the Dutch armed forces and the fulfilment of NATO objectives. The ministry declined to publicly identify which NATO targets had been delayed or affected or provide details of the current readiness level of individual Dutch units. The admission provides an indication of the growing tension between providing military equipment to Ukraine, and maintaining national inventories at the levels required for a major conventional conflict.