France and Netherlands open talks on nuclear deterrence cooperation

French and Dutch officials held talks for the first time on cooperating on nuclear weapons, the Netherlands' defence ministry said, according to NOS. The talks took place on Wednesday in Paris.

The meeting follows French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement in March that he wanted to open a strategic dialogue with several European NATO countries, including the Netherlands, Defence24 reported. Dutch and French delegations discussed ways to strengthen European nuclear and conventional deterrence, as well as the broader security relationship between the two countries, NOS reported.

Dutch Defence Minister Yesilgöz said the talks marked an important step, writing on social media that "this is how we take responsibility for our own security," according to NOS. Dutch officials said the talks were justified by the serious deterioration of Europe's security situation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which increases European countries' responsibility for their own security, Defence24 reported.

Dutch Foreign Minister Berendsen said the US nuclear umbrella remains "the foundation" of European security, while adding that Europe must take on more responsibility for its own defence, NOS reported. The talks could eventually lead to French nuclear weapons being stationed in other European countries, similar to the US nuclear weapons already based at the Dutch Volkel air base, NOS said.

Besides France and the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark are taking part in the French initiative, NOS reported. France and the UK are the only two nuclear-armed states in the group; France is expanding its arsenal, while the UK holds a smaller number of warheads, according to NOS.

The Netherlands has taken part in NATO's nuclear sharing programme for decades, under which select NATO states provide aircraft capable of carrying out missions involving US nuclear weapons; Dutch F-35A jets took over this role from F-16s on 1 June 2024, making the Netherlands the first European NATO country to make that switch, Defence24 reported. The F-35As are among the first aircraft in Europe certified to carry the modernised US B61-12 nuclear bomb, though details of warhead deployment and operational procedures remain classified, Defence24 said.