Dutch Defense minister Hennis resigns: army in a shamble state

She was already under pressure for a couple of days since last week an extremely harsh report about the death of two peacekeepers in Mali was published. After a few clumsy media-appearances and accumulating criticism, Jeanice Hennis finally resigned after last nights parliamentary debate. 

Interview gone wrong:

 

The Mali Report

On the 6th of July 2016, two soldiers died in Mali due to a non-functioning mortar. The report following this tragic accident mopped the floor with the ministery of Defence and their procedures. Safety procedures weren’t in order, medical treatment was under par and tons of other mistakes were made. This report came together with tons of other critical remarks coming from the armed forces against Jeanine Hennis, a #hexit was the only thing to do for her – the commander of the armed forces, General Middendorp, also resigned.

Jeanine Hennis was one of Mark Rutte’s closest political allies and seemed sure to be in a new cabinet as well, a cabinet which shouldn’t take more than month to be seated now (about time!). We guess if the new cabinet wants to make a decent start they can’t include Hennis in this one – but let’s never make assumptions about the decency of politics.

The real problem of the Dutch defense

Money! It might be the only thing Trump is right about, we don’t spend enough on our armed forces. We’re only spending 1.14% of our BNP, way lower than that 2% we agreed upon with NATO and also lower than the 1.43% average of all NATO members.

How can we properly tell Russia and Turkey to go to hell and do it without Trump if we aren’t up for spending the money that is needed to do that?

Abuzer van Leeuwen 🇳🇱
Abuzer van Leeuwen 🇳🇱http://www.abuzervanleeuwen.nl
Abuzer founded DutchReview a decade ago because he thought expats needed it and wanted to make amends for the Dutch cuisine. He has a Masters in Political Science and IT but somewhere always wanted to study history or good old football. He also a mortgage in the Netherlands and will happily tell you too how to get one. Born and raised in Rotterdam, Abuzer now lives in Leiden but is always longing back to his own international year in Italy.

1 COMMENT

  1. Why in this world you want to spend more in an army that is really powerless against the ones you want to send to hell (Russia and turkey). Increasing the budget up to 2% of the BNP will not make a strategic advantage against this forces unless of course you are in the army lobbie. Instead on increasing budget why not invest into the society, develop the economy and create stronger bounds with allies.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related posts

Latest posts

Hiking in Amsterdam: top 7 places for wandelen near the city

Hiking and Amsterdam are two words that are not often paired — but that didn't stop us from trying.  Escaping to the wilderness is an...

Art in Antwerp: why this Flemish city should be your next trip from the Netherlands

Sometimes, you need a change of scenery from the classic Dutch canals. How about Antwerp's Art scene? It's only a short train ride away,...

Bombs, stabbings, and gangs: This is the Netherlands rarely seen by tourists

When you think of the Netherlands, you probably think of bikes, dikes, and windmills — but there's an entirely different side to our beautiful...

It's happening

Upcoming events

The latest Dutch news.
In your inbox.