By Wilbert van der Zeijden, IKV Pax Christi
Congratulations are in order to former Dutch prime ministers Ruud Lubbers and Dries van Agt. The Public Prosecutor has decided he cannot indict the two for publicly sharing the state secret that there are about twenty nuclear weapons on Volkel Air Base. The reasoning is hilarious: The Dutch government refuses to tell the prosecutor if there are indeed nuclear weapons in Volkel, so the prosecutor cannot determine if a state secret was shared.
For the former Statesmen, the announcement must come as a mild relief. For the Ministry, the relief must be much more acute: The decision of the Prosecutor means that discussions on this topic are once again limited to the absolute minimum. No court case, no publicity.
Pointing to NATO policy, the Dutch government claims that it cannot confirm nor deny the presence of the 20 or so B61 bombs on Volkel. The US is not bound by this policy – the US airforce in 2008 openly discussed nuclear deployments in Volkel in the Blue Ribbon report on security of military sites.
NATO Allied countries directly bordering the Netherlands also seem no longer very committed to this omerta-style secrecy. In Belgium, in 2008 the Vice-Minister of Defence, Mr. De Crem breached the code by saying: “The Defence Ministry neither confirms nor denies, but everyone knows that in Kleine Brogel [a Belgian Air Base] there are capacities nuclear present.” In Germany, the aim of removing nuclear weapons from German soil even became national government policy, formulated in the 2009 German coalition agreement.
In the Netherlands, current Minister of Foreign Affairs Timmermans, used to speak out (as a member of parliament) against nuclear deployments in the country. The Public Prosecutor's decision seems to indicate that he too can openly speak about the deployments, even as a minister. For indeed, if the formal secrecy prevents the law from assessing if secrecy is breached he too can – and should –openly discuss the nuclear weapons that are deployed on Volkel Air Base, No. 10 Zeelandsedijk, 5408 SM, Uden, North-Brabant, The Netherlands.
At IKV Pax Christi, we are 100% convinced that an open debate will lead to the removal of current nuclear weapons and a Dutch refusal to accept new, modernised and upgraded ones.