Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)

Ministry of Defence
Ministerie van Defensie
Logo of the Ministry of Defence
Coat of arms of the Netherlands

Ministry of Defence
Department overview
FormedNovember 29, 1813; 210 years ago (1813-11-29)
JurisdictionKingdom of the Netherlands
HeadquartersPlein 4, The Hague, Netherlands
Employees41,380 active duty
6,763 reserve forces
3,000 paramilitary
21,674 civilian staff[1]
Annual budget€21,4 billion (2024)[2]
Minister responsible
Deputy Minister responsible
Department executives
Websitehttps://www.defensie.nl

The Ministry of Defence (Dutch: Ministerie van Defensie; MinDef) is the Dutch ministry responsible for the armed forces of the Netherlands and veterans' affairs. The ministry was created in 1813 as the Ministry of War and in 1928 was combined with the Ministry of the Navy. After World War II in the ministries were separated again, in this period the Minister of War and Minister of the Navy were often the same person and the state secretary for the Navy was responsible for daily affairs of the Royal Netherlands Navy. In 1959 the ministries were merged once again. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Defence, currently Ruben Brekelmans,[3] assisted by the Chief of the Defence, Onno Eichelsheim.

  1. ^ (in Dutch) [1], Defensie, September 1, 2023
  2. ^ (in Dutch) [https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/overdefensie/het-verhaal-van-defensie/financien
  3. ^ Defensie, Ministerie van (2017-10-26). "Minister of Defence - Central Staff - Defensie.nl". english.defensie.nl. Retrieved 2024-07-08.