More Dutch soldiers infected during mission in Lithuania | Inland

Minister Bijleveld (Defense) reports this to the House of Representatives. It is difficult to say how many Dutch military personnel are infected with the virus, according to Defense. Testing is currently underway. Anyone who tests positive for corona will return to the Netherlands. Appropriate measures will be taken there. There are no seriously ill people so far.

About 270 Dutch people are part of the NATO mission to reassure Poland and the Baltic states against the Russian threat. In Lithuania they are part of a battle group that also includes Germans, Belgians and Norwegians. A large part of the group is located at a location other than the barracks due to an exercise.

Corona is now becoming an increasingly difficult task for Defense, not only because of the support of the emergency services in the Netherlands, but also for the missions. About 35 soldiers return from the mission in Afghanistan as a precaution. Some of them are in the risk group because of their age. In any case, the goal is to minimize the missions to reduce the chance of contamination. The number of military personnel is therefore also being reduced in Iraq. Training in both countries has been shut down. The training of the US-led training mission in Burkino Faso has also come to a halt due to corona. The four Dutch trainers return.

A Dutch observer in the UN observer mission along the border of Lebanon and Israel has found corona. The soldier involved has no complaints and is now quarantined in a hospital in the region.

The measures to make missions smaller and to halt training courses may, according to Bijleveld, “have been in effect for some time.”

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