150 soldiers of the Airmobile Brigade in Assen are going to Romania for an exercise in the border area with Ukraine. They leave on Monday. The exercise was supposed to take place in Germany, but has been moved to Romania because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, says Major Roel van de Wiel of the Royal Netherlands Army.
“Partly at the request of NATO, we are developing activities to increase our readiness and increase visibility,” says Van de Wiel. For that reason, the exercise has been moved from Germany to northeastern Romania, near the Ukrainian eastern border. “It is an international exercise together with one American and one Romanian unit.” He does not know how many soldiers are involved in total.
Van de Wiel: “Romania is a NATO partner and it is quite exciting there at the moment. We are going there with the aim of having a reassuring effect on Romania. We are doing this from an allied role, to show that we’re there.”
Back home after exercise
He emphasizes that the Dutch are not deployed as guards of the Romanian-Ukrainian border. “It is just a training ground for airmobile brigades where we will be in the coming weeks and when the exercise is over, these soldiers will also return to Assen,” said the major.
It is the first Dutch company to be sent to Eastern Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine in the night from Wednesday to Thursday. It is not the first activity in Eastern Europe, because the Netherlands has been present in Lithuania for some time. According to Van de Wiel, this concerns a “permanent presence”.
Crowds at ammunition depot Veenhuizen
Late last night passers-by saw a lot of activity at the ammunition depot in Veenhuizen. Defense trucks drove back and forth under the supervision of the police and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Today it was announced that the Netherlands will deliver two hundred anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine as soon as possible. Ministers Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) and Kajsa Ollongren (Defence) write this in a letter to the House of Representatives.