State Secretary for Defense is shocked by backlogs in barracks

The Dutch armed forces are no match for the Russian army. That was the message to the new State Secretary for Defense Christophe van der Maat (VVD) during a working visit to the Royal Netherlands Navy in Den Helder, on which De Telegraaf reports. “I come to places where I think: gosh, let’s have our people work here? It feels super uncomfortable that I’ve been responsible for this for a month now,” Van der Maat told the newspaper.

The Secretary of State promises speedy recovery. ‘I’m going to work like crazy to get rid of all the backlogs. Ensuring sufficient ammunition, equipment and trained personnel is now more than ever necessary. Our NATO allies must be able to count on us,” he told De Telegraaf.

Concentrating locations is the solution, according to the State Secretary. That means that barracks will have to close, but he tells the newspaper that no decision has yet been made on which and how many locations this concerns. “The entire program can take ten to fifteen years. But every euro that we have to spend too much on real estate, we cannot invest in new equipment and replenishing the ammunition stocks,” said Van der Maat in De Telegraaf.