The fact that the three largest brigades of the army fall under German command does not mean that the Netherlands no longer has control over its own troops. According to De Kruif, the Netherlands always has the option of recalling its troops, in the rare case that the Netherlands and Germany want different things in the field of defence.
But this is not in line with expectations, thinks De Kruif. Instead, the collaboration will produce something in terms of hierarchy. “For the past 20 years, army divisions have been disbanded due to budget cuts,” he says. “And those divisions are the staffs you need to adequately manage the brigades (units of 3,000 men, ed), both in conflict and in peacetime to be able to practice”.
Too few brigades
The reverse was the case with their eastern neighbors: they had too few brigades to fill the divisions. “How simple then is it for you, as the Netherlands, to say ‘we will bridge these divides and work closely with each other’?”
“If you’re operating side-by-side with the Germans in Afghanistan, why not in a normal war situation?”
The closer cooperation therefore results in, among other things, more training sessions together, which in turn results from the fact that Germany and the Netherlands have been going on missions together for more than two decades. “If you’re operating side-by-side with the Germans in Afghanistan, why shouldn’t you be able to operate side-by-side with the same Germans in a normal war situation?”
I earn
According to De Kruif, there is only profit from the merger. Particularly in terms of education, training, systems maintenance, “so there’s really no reason not to.”
Strategic gains are also being made, because De Kruif believes the merger demonstrates that the interests of the Netherlands and Germany – when it comes to foreign and security policy – are always in sync. “And if that’s the case, there’s really no reason not to let our military work together as much as possible.”
Unique
The absorption of large army units by the German armed forces is also unique, De Kruif knows. “I don’t know of any instances where the three main combat units of one country are placed in a division of a unit of another country,” he says. “So Germany and the Netherlands are leading the way in that regard.”
However, De Kruif does not dare to call it a stepping stone towards a European army, although it can be considered a first step in that direction. “But we won’t see a European army in the next 50 years,” he concludes. ‘So you’re actually asking all European countries to have the same view on security and foreign policy, but that’s not the case at the moment. Just look at Hungary’s problems with Sweden joining NATO. So before you can call it a European army from above, you can wait a long time. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the responsibility to start from the bottom».