The Dutch cabinet is considering sending a naval ship to the Mediterranean. France made the request, Foreign Minister Berenson and Defense Minister Yesilgoz wrote in a letter to the second chamber on Wednesday.
France's request involves the deployment of the air defense command frigate "Zr. Ms. Evertsen" to the eastern Mediterranean for defense. France hopes that the ship will support the French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" in its operations in the eastern Mediterranean.
The "Everson" is currently a member of the fleet sailing with the "Charles de Gaulle". However, deployment to the eastern Mediterranean requires political approval. France wants to deploy aircraft carriers to the region to help protect trade and oil and gas supplies.
"Charles de Gaulle" is the largest aircraft carrier in the European Union. Along with the U.S. aircraft carrier, the French carrier is currently the only two in the world powered by nuclear reactors.
Just a day earlier, a British military base in Cyprus was attacked by a drone. This incident marked the first time that an EU member state directly intervened in the conflict in Iran and surrounding areas. Previously, the United Kingdom had decided to send military equipment to Iran.
Recently, the United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, resulting in the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the situation in the Middle East has rapidly deteriorated. Iran retaliated by attacking U.S. military bases in at least nine countries in the region.
Netherlands plans to give green light to jointly develop nuclear weapons with France
Like the Dutch cabinet, the Dutch second chamber appears to be positive about French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to strengthen cooperation on nuclear weapons. In particular, the Democratic 66 Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Christian Democrats in the ruling coalition all hope to accept this challenge. The atmosphere is very different from recent decades.
In a speech on France's nuclear strategy on Monday, Macron said he wanted to expand France's nuclear arsenal and cooperate with several European countries, including the Netherlands.
Although Dutch policy has so far focused mainly on limiting the number of nuclear weapons in the world, Jetten's cabinet immediately announced its willingness to engage in dialogue with France. The Second House appears to provide space for this as well.
"We have seen that Russia's aggressive behavior is very serious, and we must ensure our own security in Europe, which also includes nuclear security," said Belhirsi, a member of the Democratic Six-Sixth Party.
Breckelmans, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary group, also welcomed Macron's desire to strengthen European cooperation and deploy French nuclear weapons, believing that this is "more to defend Europe" and "more to deter the enemy."
CDU lawmaker Van Ranschott added that Europe can only have a strong position in the world through cooperation among its member states, "so we see Macron's extended hand as a positive development."
The reaction of the largest opposition party, the Green Party-Labor Alliance (GroenLinks-PvdA), was more cautious, but given the unpredictability of the international situation, MP Piri still considered France's negotiation proposal "very interesting."
"We are currently very dependent on the United States for defence. My parliamentary group believes that it is absolutely necessary that we reduce this dependence," Pirie said. However, she added that it should not be considered "safe only to have nuclear weapons against the most powerful countries".
Another opposition party, the Socialist Party, firmly opposed this proposal. Congressman Dobe said more nuclear weapons could lead to a new nuclear arms race like the one during the Cold War, which would only make the world less safe.
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