It reached a boiling point: Armed forces should be prepared for war with Russia

Both the Dutch army and society as a whole must prepare for the possibility of war with Russia, Lieutenant General Martin Wijnen said today.

It reached a boiling point: Armed forces should be prepared for war with Russia

Both the Dutch army and society as a whole must prepare for the possibility of war with Russia, Lieutenant General Martin Wijnen said today.

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Wijnen is the outgoing commander of the Royal Netherlands Army.

"Our society should prepare for that," he said in an interview with the Dutch newspaper "Telegraf".

Wijnen pointed out that the Netherlands should follow the examples of countries like Sweden, Finland and the Baltic countries, which border Russia or are close to it and are better prepared for the outbreak of war, the NL Times portal reported. "The Netherlands needs to learn that the whole society has to be ready when things go wrong," Wijnen told the Dutch newspaper.

For civilians, this means having food and drinking water in stock for emergencies. "The Netherlands should not think that our security is guaranteed because we are 1,500 kilometers away," he pointed out. Wijnen warned that Russia is getting stronger and that it is necessary to have a strong military as a deterrent. Therefore, as he stated, it is important to eliminate the lack of personnel in the army. Wijnen expects a lot from the volunteer year in the youth army, which was implemented after a similar program in Sweden.

About 600 young people have participated in the program, but Wijnen hopes to attract two to three thousand young people each year, a third of whom are likely to choose a career in the military and a third to become reservists.