Minister of Defence Urmas Reinsalu met the Dutch ambassador who handed over the official decision on participation in Baltic air policing in 2017, reported Ministry of Defence.
Netherlands makes participation in NATO Baltic air policing official
Please note that the article is more than five years old and belongs to our archive. We do not update the content of the archives, so it may be necessary to consult newer sources.
At his meeting with Reinsalu today, Dutch Ambassador Jos Schellaars handed over the decision of the Dutch government to take part in the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states from April to June 2017. The decision was also announced today in the Netherlands to the ambassadors of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Dutch defence minister.
Reinsalu said at the meeting with Schellaars that it was a “great pleasure” to hear of the decision of the Dutch government to again take part in the mission in the Baltics. “The NATO air policing mission has both practical and political importance, it is the strongest signal of NATO’s presence in the Baltic region,” said Reinsalu.
Ambassador Schellaars explained the background of the decision: “The imminent end of the NATO Afghanistan mission allows us to again contribute to the NATO Baltic air policing mission.” To this point, the Dutch air force has focused primarily on the NATO-led ISAF operation in Afghanistan.
Reinsalu said he was pleased that the Netherlands would be contributing to the mission for the second time and added that the air policing mission had to be attractive and sustainable in the long term. The Netherlands took part in the NATO air policing mission in the Baltics for the first time from April to June 2005.