Lt. Gen. Martin Wijnen, the RNLA's commander, issued this advice during a Dec. 28 interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. "Russia is getting stronger," he warned, adding that "the Netherlands should not think that [its] safety is guaranteed just because [it is] 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away."
According to Wijnen, the country "must work on [its] operational readiness" and "ensure that [it has] enough deterrence to deprive any adversary of the courage to [attack]." He continued: "There is only one language that Russia understands – [the language] of robust armed forces."
"The Netherlands must learn again that the entire society must be ready when things go wrong," the commander told the newspaper. While he stressed that his warning does not mean everyone would have to "wear a helmet tomorrow," Wijnen lamented that the Dutch have become "too accustomed to the idea that there is always peace." (Related: German foreign minister admits country is at war with Russia.)
The army chief also admitted to De Telegraaf that the RNLA, which he has helmed since 2019, has been "crippled by budget cuts." Given this, Wijnen stressed that the Netherlands should strengthen its military and help society adapt to the potential hardships of war.
His advice wasn't limited to the government, however. The RNLA chief called on Dutch society to improve its "resilience" by storing "supplies, food and drinking water" in the basements of people's homes, so that it could "take the blow" when the time comes. Wijnen also urged Dutch companies to be ready to provide for the military's needs.
Dutch military short on troops
According to De Telegraaf, the Netherlands – which abolished conscription back in 1997 – is now facing a "glaring personnel shortage" amid a potential war with Russia. Given this, Wijnen spoke about the need to increase the RNLA's size. He also warned that the Dutch army couldn't afford to suffer any casualties in battle.
"If we start to suffer losses, who will replenish them? We used to have options for that, but not anymore," Wijnen remarked. He also noted that the Dutch won't get a choice on whether to fight or not in case of an "imposed conflict."
Given this shortage of personnel, the Dutch military is currently running a campaign called "service year" that encourages young people to enlist in the RNLA voluntarily for 12 months. Despite Wijnen claiming that the campaign was a "huge success," he disclosed that only around 600 people joined the program in 2023. According to him, that number "should be between 2,000 and 3,000."
Moreover, Wijnen also claimed that Russia has designs on the three Baltic states after it is done with Ukraine. The three Baltic countries – Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – were formerly Soviet republics, but have since joined the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
But Moscow has never mentioned any plans to attack any NATO member state. At most, it has only repeatedly warned that the U.S. and its allies continuing to supply military aid to Kyiv make them de facto parties to the conflict. Moscow has also warned that ongoing military support from the West increases the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and the West.
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