About 30 soldiers from the Airmobile Brigade in Assen left for Romania this morning for an exercise in the east of the country. The exercise was supposed to take place in Germany, but has been moved to Romania due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The rest of the 150 soldiers will follow later today and tomorrow.
At NATO’s request, readiness is increased and visibility increased. They will team up with an American and a Romanian unit. The intention is to have a reassuring effect on Romania. It concerns an exercise of about four weeks, after which the soldiers return to Assen.
‘Nobody hopes that soldiers are needed’
The Dutch military will not be deployed as guards on the Romanian-Ukrainian border. “If deployment is ultimately required in Ukraine or at the border, other soldiers will go there, we really go on exercises,” says Major Maarten Grendel of the Airmobile Brigade. “But I can’t predict what will happen. If it is discussed, then other processes will play a role. Nobody hopes that soldiers will eventually be needed.”