Questions about the secret NATO obligations Mark Rutte signed while in office

FVD MP Pepijn van Houwelingen has written to the Dutch government asking about ‘NATO commitments’ referred to by the Deputy Prime Minister, Fleur Agema from Geert Wilders’ Freedom party.

It transpires that ministers were briefed on these obligations by the Dutch secret service AIVD and the NCTV (National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism) a few weeks after taking office, on the initiative of the Ministry of General Affairs.

This briefing was given at the Ministry of General Affairs and may not (!) be shared with the House of Representatives because of its classification. This briefing is therefore secret.

Rutte committed the Netherlands to these NATO commitments at the July 2023 NATO summit.

These NATO commitments (in all areas imaginable, such as energy, reception, care, transport) are being mapped and worked out ‘cabinet-wide’ by the NCTV.

In his questions, Pepijn van Houwelingen refers to the fact that the briefing was given to the whole Cabinet but that no minutes were taken.  No minutes can therefore be shared with the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament.

Mr van Houwelingen asked what these commitments are.

This is the response he received:

Document:

АН 998 

2024Z17413

Answer given by Minister Agema (Health, Welfare and Sport) (received 10 January 2025) 

Question 1: 

By whom were you briefed at the time? 

Answer question 1: 

A number of briefings took place in the first weeks after I took office. For example, the Director-General of the AIVD briefed the members of the new Cabinet in a theme session on information security. The NCTV also organised an exercise on the national crisis structure. 

Question 2:  

When did this briefing take place? 

Answer question 2:  

The information security theme session, given by the Director General of the AIVD for ministers and state secretaries, took place on 9 July. On 16 July, an international theme session took place, given by colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence for ministers and state secretaries. On 16 July, the national crisis structure exercise was held, supervised by the head of the National Crisis Centre (NCC) for the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, the foreign minister, the minister of the interior and Kingdom relations, the minister of justice and security and the minister of defence. 

Question 3:

Where did this briefing take place? 

Answer question 3:

At the Ministry of General Affairs. 

Question 4:

Who initiated this briefing? 

Answer question 4: 

The Ministry of General Affairs. 

Question 5:

Who was present at this briefing? 

Answer question 5: 

All new Cabinet members were invited to this. Most of them were present. 

Question 6: 

Is there a transcript of this briefing? If so, can the Chamber receive the transcript? 

Answer question 6: 

No. 

Question 7: 

Were presentations made and/or minutes taken during this briefing? If so, can the Chamber receive these presentations? 

Answer question 7: 

The presentations given cannot be shared due to classification. 

Question 8: 

To your knowledge, was this briefing perhaps also given in other NATO countries? 

Answer question 8:

No. 

Question 9: 

During the plenary session of 24 October 2024, you mentioned ‘NATO obligations’ a few times, can you elaborate on these ‘NATO obligations’? What do these ‘obligations’ for this minister (i.e. related to public health, e.g. ‘pandemic preparedness’) specifically include? Can the Chamber receive documentation reflecting these (specific) ‘NATO obligations’? 

Answer question 9: 

According to Article 3 of the NATO Treaty, resilience of society is a national responsibility and a collective interest. At the NATO Summit in July 2023, the Netherlands committed to the NATO-wide Resilience Objectives (RO)'s, reflected in the Vilnius Summit Communiqué.¹ These concern a specification of the seven baseline requirements previously identified by NATO, which reflect a baseline level in seven civilian preparedness areas: continuity of government, energy supply, large-scale reception of persons, livelihoods, reception of the wounded, (tele)communications and transport. A commitment was made to develop national goals and arrive at implementation plans.

NATO - Official text: Vilnius Summit Communiqué issued by NATO Heads of State and Government (2023), 11-Jul.-2023 - paragraph 61. For more specific information on ROs and baseline requirements, please refer to the following NATO webpage: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_132722.htm 

Question 10: 

Are these ‘NATO commitments’ legally binding? If so, can the Chamber receive the treaty in which the Netherlands made this commitment? If not, why do you refer to them as ‘obligations’? 

Answer question 10: 

The commitments to the NATO Resilience Objectives are not legally binding, although the Prime Minister has signed them on behalf of the Dutch cabinet to record our commitment.  Each country has the freedom to determine which resources and strategies it wants to deploy. There is, however, a strong political and strategic expectation among NATO allies that countries show solidarity and respond together to ensure the security of the alliance. 

Question 11: 

Finally, you speak in this context of an ‘inventory’ that ‘will be done under the direction of the NCTV’, when is this inventory expected to be ready? Can the Chamber receive this inventory? 

Answer question 11: 

The Coalition Programme includes the Cabinet-wide commitment to strengthening In societal resilience. The Cabinet-wide resilience policy against military and hybrid threats has been further developed in recent months under the coordination of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) and the Ministry of Defence. This is specifically aimed at increasing resilience against military and hybrid threats, but the policy is also applicable in case of other disasters and crises. The resilience policy consists of various policy areas under the responsibility of the relevant line ministries and their ministers. For instance, the resilience task of VWS will also be involved in this process. Your Chamber will be informed about this at the end of 2024. 

The issue was then raised in the Chamber by another FVD MP, Ralf Dekker, on 14 January.  Here is what Ralf Dekker MP said:

Dear Chairman,

At the end of October last year, Health Minister Agema stated in a debate here in this Chamber that, unfortunately, she cannot implement her desired policy (regarding ‘pandemic preparedness’) because she is bound by ‘NATO obligations’. This is, of course, very remarkable. Forum for Democracy therefore submitted written questions on this and we were shocked by the answers we received on Friday.

What emerged? Ministers were informed shortly after taking office at the Ministry of General Affairs in a briefing by the AIVD and NCTV what their ‘NATO obligations’ are. This briefing of  the cabinet, let it be known, is secret, also for the Lower House. This means, Chairman, that not this House but apparently NATO and the intelligence services in the last instance secretly determine how this country is governed without the House of Representatives being able to exercise any control over this.

Needless to say, this is unacceptable and therefore we would like a debate on this as soon as possible with the Prime Minister and Minister Agema who, after all, has repeatedly indicated in this Chamber that she is bound by ‘NATO obligations’ against her will.

The same day, this request for a debate on the matter was rejected by all parties in Lower House of the Dutch Parliament, except FVD naturally.

What are they trying to hide?