Deze toespraak is alleen beschikbaar in het Engels.
Hello everyone, it’s great to join Ambassador Popolo, Ambassador Whitaker and all of you here in Wassenaar.
I want to talk to you today about how our countries can make each other stronger.
And I would like to begin with a strength that is often attributed to the Dutch. Our ability to speak English.
Indeed, the average Dutch person can make themselves reasonably well understood in English-speaking nations.
But that does not apply to everyone.
There is this famous story about the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Luns who visited the United States in the 60s.
Luns had a conversation with President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy asked Luns whether he had any hobbies.
Luns, who was a passionate equestrian, wanted to say: I breed horses. But the Dutch verb for breeding is ‘fokken’.
So Luns answered: ‘I fok horses’
. Kennedy understandably said: ‘Pardon?
’ And since the Dutch word for horses is ‘paarden’, Luns replied: ‘Yes, paarden!’
Luns wasn’t the first Dutchman to confuse an American president.
In the 1780s, Founding Father John Adams lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years and complained about the fact that the Dutch language was ‘incomprehensible’.
Luckily, beyond being puzzled by words that to him sounded like someone was coughing, Adams felt deeply connected to the Netherlands.
This makes sense, because the Dutch United Provinces and the United States have been likeminded nations from the start.
The Dutch had freed themselves from Spain in the 17th century, just like the Americans wanted to free themselves from Britain a century later.
The Netherlands was arguably the world’s first capitalist nation. Being a VVD-member, that’s a good thing.
With the world’s first stock exchange in Amsterdam. And the East and West India Companies as the world’s first multinationals.
So it should not surprise us that the Founding Fathers looked at the United Provinces for inspiration when they wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Dutch investors thereafter played a big role in financing the American War of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase.
Even today, traces of Dutch influence can still be found on the other side of the Atlantic.
From names such as Yankees, which comes from the Dutch ‘Jan-Kees’ and words like ‘dollar’ which comes from the Dutch ‘daalder’ to the 24 different towns across the US that are named ‘Holland’.
You can also see our deep connection in our industry and innovations.
For example, the Dutch drone detection company Robin Radar Systems that now plays a huge role in Ukrainian air defence started out developing a way to spot birds in the 1980s and is now helping the US Department of Homeland Security to protect against air space threats during the FIFA World Cup that starts in 2 days’ time.
When you look at our shared history, you can clearly see that our partnership has made our nations stronger.
And I think that we should continue along that path.
Because we need a whole new level of strength to deal with what we are facing in the world of today.
War has returned to the European continent.
Ukraine has been fighting a brutal adversary for more than 4 years now.
During my most recent trip to Ukraine, the determination, adaptability, and innovation I saw there made a deep impression.
But what stayed with me even more were the Ukrainian people. Their country has been hit unimaginably hard.
Despite the constant warnings of incoming attacks, the air raid sirens, and the rush to the nearest shelter they still find the resilience and strength to continue to live their lives.
They do this under the ever-present threat of Russian drones.
These consistent, brutal Russian attacks show that the Russian regime is not only completely unreliable and ruthless, but also the greatest threat to NATO and peace and security in Europe.
The war in Ukraine also shows that modern warfare is about being able to adapt to lightning-quick developments.
Today, it’s drones. But what tomorrow will bring no one knows for sure.
The point is that we must be able to innovate and adjust very quickly.
Our Armed Forces must be ready for the dual challenge of facing Russia and fighting with – and against – the newest technologies.
This requires us to do 3 things:
First, Europe and the Netherlands must continue to take on greater responsibility for our own security, defence and deterrence.
Because NATO will thrive only if it is supported by many, not only by a select few.
Second, we need to foster an innovative defence industry that can keep up with rapid developments.
And third, for taking on greater responsibility and fostering an innovative defence industry, we need to collaborate with you, our allies and industry.
Taking responsibility starts with unwavering support for Ukraine.
This is what the Netherlands provides.
We are one of the largest contributors to the PURL initiative, ensuring that US defence equipment is delivered to Ukraine.
And we constantly call on other European allies to increase their contribution to PURL.
Beyond standing side-by-side with Ukraine, taking more responsibility also means investing substantially in defence materiel, personnel and innovation.
This starts with a much higher defence budget.
The Dutch defence budget has more than doubled between 2022 and today.
And it needs to increase further in the future.
To ensure long-term investments in a stronger defence, our new cabinet agreement states that it will legally bind the Netherlands to spending 3.5% of its GDP on defence.
And since we will also be spending 1.5% on broader investments in societal resilience and infrastructure we can assert that we are fully committed to the 5% Defence Investment Pledge which was agreed at last year’s NATO summit.
But just increasing defence spending is not enough.
Getting the most out of everything we spend is also crucial.
This requires standardization.
Imagine if every NATO or European country bought and developed its own weapon systems for its own use.
Every tank. Every satellite. Every bullet. All bespoke. Nothing compatible.
That would be an inefficient process towards a sub-par result.
Because we need huge amounts of identical, interoperable items.
Only by mass-producing the same weapon systems can we overwhelm our adversaries and secure victory in any future battle.
If we buy and develop together, we are stronger together.
And this is what we are doing in Europe.
We are stepping up production together.
This was overdue.
A strong European defence and a credible deterrence require us to shift the burden.
So when it comes to buying and producing materiel, we are on an upward trajectory.
And we are fully committed to taking much more responsibility for our own security and defence.
This means building our own defence industry in Europe and in the Netherlands.
This is why the coalition agreement of the Dutch government states that we intend to buy and produce 40% of our defence materiel together with European partners.
We are also aiming to purchase 50% of our defence materiel from Dutch and European enterprises.
But let me be very clear when it comes to strengthening our Armed Forces, I want you to know that I’m pro-Europe and pro-US. We need each other.
So regarding the revision of the EU Defence and Sensitive Security Procurement Directive, the Netherlands continues to support sufficient flexibility in the area of defence procurements at the member state level.
And we underline the importance of ensuring mutually beneficial access to our defence markets.
Because we have a lot to offer each other.
If you want to invest in the best systems and the most effective technologies that often means buying American.
For the Netherlands Armed Forces that means, for example, American F-35s, Patriots, Tomahawks and other deep strike capabilities.
The Netherlands also has a lot to offer in return.
We excel in innovative areas such as quantum technology, space, intelligent materials, sensors and intelligent systems, including radar and drones.
These are areas where we have a proven track-record of producing world-class materials.
And, inspired by DARPA, the Netherlands is creating a Defence Innovation and Upscaling Authority to help us further develop and scale up new technologies in these fields together with industry and knowledge institutes.
We prefer these innovations to be dual use in nature, so that our investments benefit our Armed Forces and civil society at the same time.
Think of flexible factories that can quickly switch between manufacturing civilian and military products.
Or think of underwater drones that are normally used for nature conservation and the construction of offshore wind farms but that can also be used to monitor critical underwater infrastructure, such as pipelines and internet and power cables.
And we want our innovations to be interoperable, as a way to foster collaboration with our allies.
Take space technology for example. Last year, our first sovereign Dutch military satellite became operational, and we plan to launch and operate more satellites.
Moreover, we are developing new satellites together with Dutch industry and American partners.
And we collaborate on NORTHLINK, NATO’s Arctic satellite communications network and STARLIFT, NATO’s initiative to strengthen its access to and use of space.
Another example of an innovation that fosters teamwork comes from a Dutch company named Tulip Tech.
They developed batteries that were meant to be used in flying taxis.
The development of these person-carrying drones faltered.
But the batteries made by Tulip Tech turned out to be a perfect fit for military drones.
And today, this producer of long-lasting batteries has, among others, Ukraine and NASA as its customers.
Tulip Tech shows that the Netherlands is a frontrunner in drone technology.
Which is a consequence of our close ties with the Ukrainian drone industry.
And we are also the first European country to incorporate drone and counter-drone capabilities in the combat brigades of our army.
And together with the US we are collaborating on the development of AI-driven drone systems that support fighter jets.
For those of you who have seen the Austin Powers movie: these Autonomous and Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA, are basically an F-35’s unmanned ‘mini-me’.
They fly alongside the fighter jet, they are operated by the pilot, and they offer additional sensor range, additional weapons and can carry out high-risk missions over enemy territory.
They reinforce our air capabilities and are faster and cheaper to produce than traditional manned fighter aircraft.
This CCA programme brings me to another way to strengthen our Armed Forces and deterrence.
By intensifying collaboration with our strongest allies.
And that includes you.
The Netherlands seeks partnership with the US and understands that burden-sharing is not just a slogan.
We are willing to invest in a stronger Europe with the US.
Because by investing, developing and innovating together we get smarter and stronger together.
I think, for example, of how we collaborate on F-35s in the Dutch town of Woensdrecht try to pronounce that.
Here, more than 2500 specialists from over 20 Dutch aviation companies work on developing and maintaining F-35 jets.
The Dutch company VDL Defentec has been selected by General Atomics to produce a new small, unmanned aircraft system.
Our shared goal is clear: to strengthen the resilience of our integrated supply chains to scale up production and to accelerate the delivery of defence capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic, with the urgency that current circumstances require.
This brings me back to the deep partnership between our countries.
Even though the Dutch language has at times confused American presidents, there is complete clarity about Dutch support for NATO, Europe and Ukraine.
This is why we are taking on greater responsibility for our own security, defence and deterrence.
This is why we are strengthening our innovative defence industry, in order to keep up with rapid developments.
And this is why we are collaborating with you.
By coproducing weapon systems, by innovating together and by looking where we can reinforce each other further, like we are doing today.
When I look across this room at all the people here of world-class companies and businesses, I’m sure we can achieve our objectives.
So I urge you to do what our partnership has done throughout history: make both of our countries stronger.
By equipping our armed forces with the best systems, giving them the best chance of survival, and keeping our countries safe.
Thank you.