The North Atlantic Treaty, NATO’s founding document, makes no mention of nuclear weapons. NATO’s strategic concept
defines the use of nuclear weapons for Alliance defense purposes. The strategic concept is a policy document that in the past was rewritten by the member states roughly every ten years. In addition, NATO summit declarations describe partial changes in between. In February 2021, the NATO Secretary General proposed that NATO adopt a new strategic concept at the 2022 summit.
Currently, NATO assesses the likelihood of nuclear weapons use as very low. For deterrence, NATO relies on the strategic weapons of the US, the UK, and France, as well as so-called nonstrategic weapons stationed in other NATO countries – such as the bombs in the Netherlands.
Shortly after the first deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe, NATO countries demanded a say in nuclear weapons deployment planning. This gave rise to the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG), which discusses and reviews NATO’s nuclear weapons policy principles. All NATO members except France participate in the deliberations, usually at the level of defense ministers. Results of NPG meetings were published in final documents up until 2007. There has been no official reporting since then. The High Level Group and the NPG Staff Group are bodies where meetings are prepared at a lower level.
[Insert Nuclear Sharing Graphic from https://nuclearsharing.eu/en/nato-nuclear-planning/]
Caption: Nuclear sharing in NATO. All NATO members except France participate in Nuclear Planning Group meetings.
NATO’s strategic concepts have been public documents since 1991. They are always supplemented by secret documents explaining the military implementation of the political objectives. The NATO Military Committee prepares and adopts these documents. The latest such document (presumed document number: MC 400/4) was adopted in 2019 as a new “military strategy”. NATO had not had such a military strategy for over five decades.
The following FAQ is a compilation of a number of further questions about nuclear planning and nuclear deployments in the Dutch parliament.
How many nuclear weapons are stored in the Netherlands?
“Due to security reasons and pursuant to alliance agreements, as is well known, no announcements can be made about numbers and locations of US nuclear weapons present in Europe. All NATO allies subscribe to this duty of secrecy.”
Answer by Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra to a motion by Jasper van Dijk in the Parliament in November 2022
“On the basis of the alliance and legally binding agreement the basis of the alliance and legally binding agreements that we have made, we as a cabinet do not make announcements on numbers and locations with respect to US nuclear weapons in Europe. That is just the way it is.”
Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld in a plenary debate in July 2020
Details about nuclear deployments in the Netherlands
“The Netherlands abides by its treaties and thus will not share any information.”
Answer by Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok on a motion requesting the government to provide access to the financial and military infrastructure of the Dutch nuclear weapons task. Answer given during a plenary debate in November 2018.
Modernization of nuclear weapons in the Netherlands
“The U.S. has in that context the so-called “Life Extension Program” (LEP) with the aim of ensuring the safety, security and effectiveness of these weapons, among others, to be permanently guaranteed. This modernization takes many years and is, in the opinion of the Dutch government, a necessary activity. The LEP concerns U.S. nuclear weapons, so NATO allies have no say in the timeline of this modernization [emphasis added]. As the Chamber is aware, based on alliance agreements, no announcements can be made about numbers and locations of U.S. nuclear weapons present in Europe.”
Written answer by Minister of Foreign Affairs Halbe Zijlstra on a question about modernization of US nuclear weapons in the Netherlands during a plenary debate on the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2017
Increasing transparency
“At all meetings of the Nuclear Planning Group always pay attention to the Knops motion [motion on an open discussion of nuclear deployments from 2013] and that we – also supported by you, I know – always bring forward the discussion on transparency. In any case, I do that myself and I know that colleague Blok [Minister of Foreign Affairs] does that also. We are always trying to take steps in that direction. […] We can only change those agreements together.”
Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld in a plenary debate 2 July 2020
What is the decision-making procedure in the Alliance and within the federal government on the participation of Dutch armed forces in the deployment of nuclear weapons, and where is this procedure regulated?
“About the meetings [NPT meetings], I cannot share any information.”
Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld in a plenary debate in July 2020
“We are members of the Nuclear Planning Group where we discuss nuclear weapon related issues with each other. We cannot talk about that in public.”
Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld in a plenary debate in July 2018
TPNW and NATO membership
“The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons contains several sections that are incompatible with obligations arising from the Dutch NATO membership and the tenets of the Deterrence and Defence Posture Review (DDPR), including the notion that NATO will remain a nuclear alliance as long as nuclear weapons exist.”
Answer by Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld and Foreign Minister Stef Blok to a motion by Lilianne Ploumen, Bram van Ojik and Sadet Karabulut in the Parliament November 2018
Nuclear sharing and the Non-Proliferation Treaty
“At the time the non-proliferation treaty was concluded, it was known that nuclear sharing was part of NATO’s strategy and it was accepted then.”
Consultations of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Standing Committee on Defence with Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok in October 2018
On right to have a say by hosting nuclear weapons
“This task [the Dutch contribution to NATO’s nuclear task] – an alliance obligation that the Netherlands has assumed for more than 55 years – allows the Netherlands to act more powerful and effective on arms control.”
Answer by Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld to questions posed by the Standing Committee on Defence in June 2020
“Within NATO, the Netherlands has a relatively strong voice in the nuclear area, also because the Netherlands has a nuclear weapons mission within the alliance. […] Precisely by fulfilling the NATO nuclear weapons task, our country has the necessary, political weight to advocate concrete steps within the Alliance.”
Answer by Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok on a parliamentary motion to promote nuclear disarmament in June 2018