About half of the respondents on the position of the day believe that the NATO standard should be considerably up. However, many readers think the 5 percent that Rutte mentions are too high. A respondent: “Publishing 5 percent of GDP to Defense is far too much, 3 percent is fed up, but this must be spent on the European arms industry.” Someone else: “We have to strengthen, that is clear. But 5 percent of GDP to Defense is at the expense of livelihood of many people and of necessary facilities.”
Although the majority believes that the defense budget should go up, many participants call Rutte ‘hypocritical’. A participant: “By cutting back on Defense under Rutte, who now shouts that the budget must be up, our army does not mean anything.” Someone else: “Rutte has done everything for years to scale up Dutch defense. And now he is going to tell with a big mouth what we should do.” “Like the wind blows, his jacket blows,” many think. A participant: “Unbelievable that he now suddenly finds it important to free up money for defense when he was at the regime, there was never anything.” And: “Rutte focuses on fear. And many people fall into it.”
A majority of readers believe that Europe should mainly invest in defensive means, defense and (rocket) weapons. Many voters want money to go to innovation and technology. Less money needs to be spent on expensive weaponry and more to security against digital attacks, it sounds frequently. A participant suggests: “We must increase the defense budget, train an elite corps and develop a lot of technology. If the defense can be performed with drones, fewer aircraft are needed.” Another respondent is also for deploying on drones: “Drones are small but very effective. In the war between Russia and Ukraine a lot of drones are used. Then fewer men are needed to send the field.” “We must be the best in technology, such as defense from hackers, drones and other remote weapons,” someone else also believes.
A small majority of respondents believe that we must immediately re-introduce military service to support the defense device. A participant: “The military service must be introduced again, but this time for men and women.” Another respondent: “Entering into accounting has two advantages, it is good for the security of our country and the youth learns what discipline is.”
A minority of the readers believes that we should abandon national armies and work towards a European armed forces. Many people think that countries should work together more within Europe. “We don’t have to deliver even more to the EU,” says a respondent. “Each Member State must take care of its own defense, but also work together where possible.”