NETHERLANDS/NATO: C-17 COMMITMENT STILL UP IN THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 001879 SIPDIS SIPDIS USNATO FOR HEINRICH; EUR/RPM FOR MONAHAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2016 TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL NATO NL SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/NATO: C-17 COMMITMENT STILL UP IN THE AIR REF: STATE 138937 Classified By: POLCOUNS ANDREW J. SCHOFER FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Dutch remain committed to NATO's C-17 consortium project in principle and hope to sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) committing to 500 hours by September 8. There is still no agreement within the GONL on funding, however, and the Dutch will make no additional commitments to the project prior to the elections. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Post shared reftel talking points soliciting solid commitments to NATO's Strategic Airlift Initiative with Dutch Ministry of Defense (MOD) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) contacts on August 24 and 25. On August 25, MOD Project Director General of Defense Materiel Dirk van Dord told POLCOUNS, ODC Chief, and visiting Congressman Shuster that the Dutch were prepared to commit 500 hours to the C-17 project, and that it should be possible to sign an Letter of Intent (LOI) to that effect prior to September 8. Van Dord acknowledged that finding a source of funding for the project had been problematic, but argued that a meeting was being held the same day to resolve this issue. Van Dord stressed that any additional commitments to the project -- such as firming up the 1200 hour "option" -- were highly unlikely given the proximity of elections and the current government's strong desire to put forward its budget in the next few weeks. ¶3. (C) Later on August 25, Joop Nijssen, the Deputy Director of the MFA's Department of Security Affairs, told POLCOUNS that the funding issue remained unresolved despite the meeting mentioned by van Dord. According to Nijssen, Minister of Defense Kamp supported the C-17 but was not prepared to seek additional funding from the Ministry of Finance prior to upcoming elections; the MOD's preference, according to Nijssen, was for MFA to supply the funds out of its budget for operations and development. Nijssen predicted that this would prove unacceptable to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and indicated that there would be further internal GONL discussion of the matter. Nijssen added that the GONL was being pressed by senior NATO officials, including the SYG, to make a firm commitment as soon as possible. Like van Dord, Nijssen strongly doubted that there would be any political will in the current environment to make an additional commitment beyond the 500 hours. COMMENT: -------------- ¶4. (C) Post will continue to monitor the situation and press the GONL to firm up its commitment to 500 hours ASAP. For the reasons noted above, however, it seems clear that additional commitments to the project will most likely have to wait until after the November elections and the formation of a new government. BLAKEMAN