Headlines
Dutch defence spending up $1.25 billion in new budget, VVD leader says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
The Dutch government plans to boost defence spending by 1.1 billion euros annually, aiming to meet NATO's 2% GDP target, as announced by VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government aims to increase defence spending by an extra 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) annually from this year, the leader of the VVD party - part of the ruling coalition- Dilan Yesilgoz said in a post on X on Wednesday.
The extra spending was agreed after negotiations between the leaders of the four-party ruling coalition on the government's 2025 budget.
The spending boost will come on top of an increase in military spending of more than 10% to about 24 billion euros a year, announced in September last year.
The stimulus measures will put Dutch defence spending on course to reach 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time since NATO allies agreed on that minimum threshold 10 years ago.
The Dutch government had already said it would look for further increases, after U.S. President Donald Trump increased pressure on NATO countries to spend more on their armed forces.
Yesilgoz offered no details on the new spending push, as the plans need to be formally approved in a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
($1 = 0.8797 euros)
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by David Holmes)
The main topic is the Dutch government's plan to increase defence spending by 1.1 billion euros annually to meet NATO's 2% GDP target.
The increase is part of efforts to meet NATO's 2% GDP target for defence spending, following pressure from the U.S. and internal coalition negotiations.
The increase was announced by Dilan Yesilgoz, the leader of the VVD party, part of the ruling coalition.
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