A look at the Defence news 24–30 November
Strengthening defence cooperation and ways to address security threats were both on the agenda at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, which took place from 21 to 23 November. The forum, an event that focuses on national security and democracy, was attended by a large number of invited participants, including the Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans and Chief of Defence General Onno Eichelsheim, together with a delegation of Dutch female generals.
Stability in Middle East also affects security in Europe
Last week, Netherlands Chief of Defence General Onno Eichelsheim met with his Lebanese counterpart, Lieutenant General Rodolphe Haykal, in The Hague, where they extensively discussed strengthening stability in Lebanon and the wider region. Both Lebanon and the Netherlands consider stability to be not only in the interest of security in the Middle East, but in Europe as well.
The Netherlands takes turn in air policing
The Quick Reaction Alert task is back in Dutch hands. Two F-35s are on continuous standby to protect Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourgish airspace.
Common Effort 2025: strengthening our collective defence
1 German-Netherlands Corps (1 GNC) brought the three-day international conference Common Effort 2025, held in the Latvian capital Riga, to a close last week. This year’s edition of the conference, which took place from 25 to 27 November and was originally initiated by 1GNC, saw representatives from government organisations, NGOs, knowledge institutions and NATO partners discuss ways to strengthen social resilience through civil-military cooperation.