Maintaining peace, preventing coercion and deterring aggression: these are the objectives of Steadfast Noon, the annual nuclear NATO exercise that started in Italy last week.
An F-35 combat aircraft
Combat aircraft from 17 countries, including F-35s from the Netherlands, are taking part in the exercise, which will end on 23 October.
France and the Netherlands start a strategic dialogue
The Netherlands and France held the first meeting of the bilateral Nuclear Steering Group. It is the first time that both countries held high-level talks on this issue. In early March this year, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he wanted to enter into a strategic dialogue with a number of European countries in order to strengthen European nuclear and conventional deterrence. The Netherlands accepted the French offer, in line with the coalition agreement.