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