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Minister Dilan Yesilgöz said broad support in parliament for strengthening the armed forces was unusual. She does not face financial constraints for this policy. Support for Ukraine is facing growing resistance among right-wing parties. Russia has requested clarification over Yesilgöz’s use of the term “enemy” to refer to Russia.
10 sources
Defence Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz said during a Lower House debate on the defence budget that she would no longer call Russia an aggressor, but regarded it as the Netherlands’ enemy. She said Russia was testing Western societies and referred to threats and incidents in Europe. She said the change in wording did not mean a change in policy; the Netherlands is not at war with Russia. External Affairs Minister Tom Berendsen later also called Russia an enemy after opposition pressure. A single report said he had not been informed beforehand that Yeşilgöz would use the term. The Russian embassy in the Netherlands requested clarification of Yeşilgöz’s remarks.
1 source
An account contrasted Dilan Yesilgöz’s pledge that the VVD would never govern with the left with reasoning attributed to Mark Rutte and Yesilgöz about the proportionality of 7 October. It said the pledge narrowed the VVD’s political options.