International

The Joint Strike Fighter will cost €1.4 billion more than originally calculated, bringing the total investment costs for the Netherlands to €7.6 billion. According to SP Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk, this dramatic increase is reason enough to cancel this prestige project once and for all. He will put this proposal forward next Tuesday during the parliamentary debate on the defence budget.

‘This is the biggest price hike for the JSF to date,’ says Van Dijk. ‘Let’s put a stop to this fighter jet fiasco while we still can. Defence Minister Hans Hillen has already announced a billion in cuts, which means 10,000 people face redundancy. It’s just not on that the government is hanging on to a fighter plane which time after time has been found to be dearer than expected and which is also not needed. Soldiers are having to contend with worn-out equipment and tardy maintenance. To prevent dangerous situations, it’s much more important that first of all something is done about that.'

The SP wants to see a modest armed force which no longer participates in wars of aggression with no UN mandate. Missions aimed at peacekeeping can indeed find support from the SP, provided they are legitimate and proportional. ‘But for these the JSF is certainly not needed,’ says Van Dijk. ‘It seems logical to me that other parties now understand that we must put an end to this disastrous project and spend the money on something useful.’