Dutch Army Gets A Star Recruit As Queen Maxima Signs Up For Reserves

Queen Máxima, 54, has started training with the Dutch army reserves, joining efforts to boost recruitment as the Netherlands responds to growing security concerns in Europe. The Argentine-born queen’s involvement highlights the country’s focus on strengthening its military amid ongoing tensions and the war in Ukraine.

“Because the security of the Netherlands can no longer be taken for granted, Máxima has decided to become a reservist,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement after she began training on Wednesday.

The Royal House issued a statement saying that the queen, “like many others, wants to make a contribution to that security.”

Máxima is following in her daughter’s footsteps into the military. Crown Princess Amalia, heir to the Dutch

throne, finished her basic training last month as a volunteer reservist.

Royals across Europe have a tradition of enlisting. Five years ago, Princess Elisabeth, the heir to the Belgian throne, signed up to do a year in military school in Brussels to help her prepare for her royal duties. Her father, King Philippe, also attended the Royal Military School in central Brussels.

The incoming Dutch coalition government that is expected to be sworn in later this month has unveiled plans to boost the nation’s military to 122,000 staff.

A Ministry of Defense spokesperson, Klaas Meijer, said Thursday that the total force currently stands at 80,000, including military personnel, civilians, and reservists like Máxima. He added that joining was her personal decision, “but we are of course very proud that she is doing this and hope that other people will think, ‘hey, this is something I could do.'”

A series of photos taken by a defense ministry photographer as Máxima started training at a military academy in the city of Breda were released Wednesday by the House of Orange. In one, Máxima, her left eye squeezed shut, grips a pistol in both hands as she takes aim. In another, she’s hanging onto a rope in front of a rock climbing wall.

Another snap shows Máxima, barefoot, wearing green overalls and blacked-out ski goggles jumping into a swimming pool.

According to the defense ministry her training will comprise “all the practical and theoretical military components necessary to become a reservist. These include physical resilience, self-defense, marksmanship, map reading, and military law.”

Once the queen has completed her training, she will be given the rank of lieutenant-colonel and will “deploy wherever needed,” the Royal House statement said.

Ministry spokesperson Meijer said that reservists are generally deployed for tasks in the Netherlands, but have occasionally also been sent overseas on a voluntary basis.

Europe Wants To Attract More Military Recruits

Amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and questions about NATO from the U.S., the Netherlands plans a “freedom contribution” for citizens and businesses to help cover rising military costs.

Meanwhile, Germany has approved measures to increase military recruitment as it seeks to strengthen its armed forces against growing concerns over Russia.

In November, France unveiled a new program that is meant to bolster the country’s armed forces by training thousands of volunteers aged 18 and 19. The program will start with 3,000 volunteers to be selected next summer and will gradually increase to 10,000 per year by 2030. France has ambitions to reach up to 50,000 volunteers per year by 2035.

At a Paris naval conference this week, the Dutch navy chief, Vice Admiral Harold Liebregs, and counterparts from the U.K. and U.S. spoke of success in boosting recruitment and retention of much-needed personnel, in part because of growing concerns about threats to Europe’s security.

“Something happened in Europe. We have been struggling with shortages of personnel for a couple of years but now for the first time in years we see that (the) retention rate is pretty OK,” Liebregs said. “Recruitment and influx is also picking up … People are really willing to join the navy.”

He credited the improvement partly to a program allowing volunteers to serve in the armed forces for one year, providing them with initial training and a firsthand experience of military life.

Denmark sought to increase the number of young people in the military last year, by extending compulsory enlistment to women for the first time. Men and women can both still volunteer, and the remaining places will be filled by a gender-neutral draft lottery.

And Dutch neighbor Belgium has just reactivated two military brigades as part of a wider drive to boost defenses.

Efforts to recruit new military personnel are likely to strain defense budgets across Europe, while also driving governments to increase NATO spending as agreed at last year’s summit.

“It’s good, it’s a difficult path,” especially because it requires financing and other resources, Retired Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros, a former head of the French Air Force, told The Associated Press after France announced its plans.

“But nevertheless I think it was needed somewhere to make sure that the young generations understand that freedom and peace are not taken for granted and it doesn’t come as a free lunch.”

(With inputs from AP)