Netherlands Sets Aside Extra €700 Million for Ukraine in 2026

The outgoing Dutch government has approved an additional €700 million in support for Ukraine next year.

The Gaze reports this, referring to NOS.

The extra allocation became possible because several ministries will not use parts of their 2025 budgets before the end of the year. The redirected money will come primarily from the Defence Equipment Budget Fund and the Foreign Ministry, where a number of projects were postponed.

The Netherlands typically provides around €3.5 billion in annual assistance to Ukraine. However, €2 billion from the 2026 budget has already been committed this year, prompting the GreenLeft–Labour Party alliance to call for topping up next year’s allocation. The cabinet’s decision to release €700 million was taken in response to that proposal.

Ministers of defence, finance and foreign affairs cautioned in a letter to parliament that finding additional resources in 2026 will be difficult, warning of “financial constraints” the government will face next year.

During parliamentary debates in late November, caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof argued against injecting more funding into Ukraine immediately, saying that other European countries, particularly in southern Europe, should shoulder a greater share of support. 

His remarks drew criticism from MPs, who accused the cabinet of treating Ukraine policy as a bookkeeping exercise.

Schoof rejected that criticism as “completely inappropriate,” noting the scale of Dutch assistance, but ultimately agreed to review ways to meet parliament’s request while maintaining his view that the timing was not ideal.

The Netherlands recently announced €35 million in winter assistance for Ukraine’s defence forces and contributed €250 million to a NATO initiative to purchase U.S.-made weapons for Kyiv.

As The Gaze reported earlier, the Netherlands has also pledged €10 million to a British-led initiative aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s cybersecurity amid ongoing Russian hybrid attacks.