The Netherlands has initiated Operation Orange Shield to safeguard the NATO summit scheduled for next week, deploying more than 10,000 military and police personnel, along with combat helicopters, maritime patrols, bomb squads, and air defence systems.
About 6,000 delegates and leaders from 32 countries, including U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will attend the closed-off event at The Hague’s World Forum.
The Dutch navy will deploy seven frigates as part of Operation Orange Shield, the country’s largest security operation.
“The aim is to observe everything that’s happening in the area, at sea, and in the air,” commander of the Tromp frigate Dennis Oorburg said.
Dutch counterterrorism chief Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg told Dutch broadcaster NOS that cybersecurity risks were also being closely monitored.
Heads of state and ministers from NATO countries will arrive at Schiphol Airport on Monday and be escorted to The Hague via a secure highway corridor.
On Tuesday, Dutch King Willem-Alexander will host a state dinner for NATO leaders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is set not to attend the summit, has also been invited to the dinner but has not yet confirmed his attendance.
NATO Summit
The summit officially begins on Wednesday, with NATO boss Mark Rutte aiming to get consensus from leaders on a 5% defence spending target, demanded by Trump. But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has opposed the higher target.
The Dutch caretaker government is in favour of increasing the country’s defence spending to a total of 5% of gross domestic product, in line with a target set by NATO, Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said.
At a NATO summit this month in The Hague, alliance members are expected to agree to an overall military spending target of 5% of GDP, with 3.5% of GDP going to core military spending and another 1.5% for defence and security-related investments.
Protests are expected around the summit, including a planned highway blockade by Extinction Rebellion environmental activists and demonstrations against the war in Gaza and LGBTI+ hate speech. Police say protests will be allowed “within the limits of the law”.
(With inputs from Reuters)
