Germany and Netherlands sign cooperation agreement
German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen and her Dutch counterpart, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, signed a letter of intent in Amsterdam on 4 February to deepen already close cooperation between their armies and extend it to their navies.
Under the agreement, Germany will share usage of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) joint logistics support ship Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman, where the two ministers actually met for the signing. The ship can conduct landing operations with helicopter support but for financial reasons has only been used in the support function with a reduced crew since 2013.
Germany had previously been planning on
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