It is likely that Dutch companies active in the defense industry will expect more orders from Sweden, if this country already becomes a member of NATO. This is what the Swedish ambassador to the Netherlands, Johannes Olgelund, told BNR.
Sweden already buys military goods from Dutch companies, but this could increase if the Scandinavian country becomes a permanent member of NATO, says Ollund in a conversation with political journalist Lendert Beckmann. He also believes that the Netherlands, in turn, will be able to do more business with Swedish companies. “There will be more defense spending and more supplies, and that will give us scope for more trade with companies from both countries.”
It remains to be seen which companies can actually benefit. According to strategic analyst Patrick Boulder of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, we do not have large “self-built” defense companies in the Netherlands, such as those in the United States, but mainly companies that provide aspects or partial components.
“Thales are very big,” says Boulder. They make very good radars, suitable for air defense, but also for looking into space, for example. It would be very nice to put him on the island of Gotland, for example. It is very strategically located in the Baltic Sea.
Boulder believes that profits can be made primarily through the exchange of knowledge between industries in both countries. For example, there was also a knowledge meeting between Dutch authorities last month NIDV and its Swedish counterpart in the field of knowledge and innovation.
NATO exercises on Swedish soil are possible
In a conversation with BNR, Ambassador Oljelund also noted that NATO military exercises on Swedish soil are entirely possible. The Swedish armed forces have already participated in maneuvers in other NATO countries. There was one recently in Norway, says Oljelund. Being a NATO member totally means that we’ll be training together. I think Sweden has the capabilities to organize this on its territory.
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