THE HAGUE - It is “unwise” not to discuss participation in a possible military force in Ukraine after a peace agreement has been reached, Prime Minister Dick Schoof said after an informal meeting convened by French President Emmanuel Macron. It is important “to send the signal now that we are prepared to talk,” he said on Monday evening. Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said the trauma that the Netherlands suffered in Srebrenica plays a role in the background of the decision on possible Dutch participation in a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. 

Earlier on Monday, the leader of the largest government party PVV said that he was against sending Dutch soldiers to Ukraine. After the meeting in the Elysée, Schoof stressed that there was still a lot of discussion to be done before this happened and that the Cabinet and parliament also had to discuss it. But Schoof reiterated that he was “open” to participation. 

In Paris, eight European leaders, the Secretary General of NATO, and the top of the European Union spoke to each other. The reason was the American decision to only talk to Russia about peace in Ukraine. These talks will start this week in Saudi Arabia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine criticized the talks in which his country is not involved. 

According to Schoof, the European countries are unanimous that they should be involved in a peace agreement. In this, it is important to work closely with the United States, the Prime Minister said. Without American backing, such a European troop force is not possible. He also repeated that defense spending in Europe must increase and that Ukraine must continue to receive full support. 

The British have already indicated that they want to send soldiers to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was also present at the meeting. According to Schoof, there was no discussion about giving the British a leading role. “It could be an option.” Great Britain is one of the strongest military powers in Europe. Moreover, Starmer has been seeking rapprochement with the European Union for some time. 

Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans (VVD) also addressed the possibility of Dutch soldiers in a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, speaking after a speech in Maastricht about the future of Europe. He said that an “important lesson was learned” from the Dutch deployment in Srebrenica. A clear mandate, sufficient international support, and American backing are required for such a deployment, the Minister said. Otherwise, you are taking “too great risks.” 

According to him, that is the lesson of Srebrenica and previous missions. He did not want to make a comparison with the UN peacekeeping force in Bosnia, but “very hard lessons were learned there.” 

During the civil war in former Yugoslavia (1992-1995), Bosnian Srebrenica was protected by Dutch UN soldiers (Dutchbat III). In 1995, the enclave was overrun by Bosnian Serb troops. They murdered approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys. 

The Dutch soldiers were saddled with an impossible mission, as later research showed. The blue helmets were not sufficiently heavily armed and air support was refused when the Bosnian Serb soldiers were on the advance. 

According to Brekelmans, there is still enough time to decide on participating in a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. "We also have the time to do this in a good and careful manner and also in a way that can count on political and social support."