The Netherlands: Latest Update on the Netherlands' Walrus-class Submarine Replacement Program - Nathan Gain

The Dutch Ministry of Defense on May 28 informed the House of Representatives about the progress of the Walrus-class submarines replacement program. It was followed by the first official communication on the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) future submarine program since December 2019 and the release of the "B-Letter".

Read more at: Latest Update on the Netherlands' Walrus-class Submarine Replacement Program - Naval News

The Netherlands: Dutch PM Rutte to visit Trump for talks on trade. As to US Defense requests : "NO WAY JOSE" - by Mike Corder

"No Way Jose"

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is visiting U.S. President Donald Trump next week, but said Friday he can't yet give the president a response to American requests for assistance in Syria and the Strait of Hormuz.

Rutte will meet Trump at the White House next Thursday to discuss bilateral relations, international trade and defense and security cooperation, the Dutch government announced.
But Rutte said the visit comes too soon for him to say whether the Netherlands will agree to U.S. requests for assistance in Syria and the Gulf, because his government is still discussing them.

"I can't have a conversation with the American president about it if the procedures in the Netherlands have not been completed," Rutte said. "So that is not a point we are putting on the agenda."

He said that if Trump raises the issue, "I will tell him we are carefully evaluating it."

Last month, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said after a meeting in Brussels that NATO allies gave him no firm commitments that they will participate in a global effort to secure international waterways against threats from Iran.

Since then, Dutch media, citing unnamed sources, have reported that the government in The Hague is considering sending a frigate to the Gulf. Rutte declined to give details of possible Dutch involvement, saying no decision has been made.

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, said Tuesday that Washington will move ahead with plans to build a coalition of nations to monitor and deter Iranian threats against commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf area and in a busy waterway between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa.

Note EU-Digest: Donald Trump created the problem with Iran, which has stirred up unrest within the Middle East, after the US stepped out of the Iran Nuclear Treaty. Hopefully PM Rutte of the Netherlands will tell Trump during his visit to the White House, that as to Trump's request for Dutch troops in Syria, or Dutch Navy support in the Persian Gulf, the answer is " NO WAY JOSE".   

Read more: Dutch leader to visit Trump for talks on trade, defense - San Antonio Express-News

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