Batenburg wonders how resistant the Netherlands is to a possible air attack, for example in the form of an unmanned drone or rocket attack. You see how we in the Netherlands have taken this threat more and more seriously lately. “We need to take the resilience of the Dutch population more seriously.”
Batenburg draws a comparison with Israel, where he himself has lived for a while and has seen how the threat of air raids affects life for everyone there. “Every house has a kind of armored room there, in which the population can protect themselves from incoming air raids. You’ll find a backup power supply, a transistor radio, a spare battery, and a flashlight. Israel’s resilience is of a different order of magnitude because of the threat.”
BORN
Batenburg believes NATO has an important role to play in defending our airspace. ‘With this alliance we can make a good punch, to avoid ending up at the same stage as Ukraine is currently. You shouldn’t underestimate the threat from the east.”
It is important, however, to comply with NATO guidelines, which require member states to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defence. ‘We haven’t paid that premium properly every year, but this is currently being corrected. Substantial defense investments are underway, including investments in our air defense, that is goodBatenburg said.
Listen to the entire episode of the De Strateeg podcast here