The Dutch government will provide 60 million euros ($64.4 million) to bolster Ukraine's aerial and naval drone purchasing and production, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced on June 11.
A total of 17.5 million euros ($18.8 million) will be allocated towards the purchase of naval drones, while the remaining 42.5 million euros ($45.6 million) will go towards bilateral drone deliveries through the international drone coalition - including at least 20 million euros for the purchase of first-person view (FPV) drones.
The drone coalition was established in January to bolster Ukraine's arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles. Nine countries have joined the alliance, including Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia, and Denmark. The coalition was founded and co-led by the U.K. and Latvia.
In April, Denmark and the Netherlands announced a joint procurement of drones worth 400 million euros ($535 million), making the largest contribution to the coalition.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds announced on April 16 that Ukraine would soon receive the first batch of drones within the coalition's framework. Ukraine is also working to scale up domestic production, aiming to produce at least 1 million drones in 2024.
Ollongren made the announcement following a visit to Kyiv, where she had meetings with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
The officials discussed Ukraine-Netherlands joint defense production, the exchange of technologies, the upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland, and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration.
Martin Fornusek
