SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Well, Minister Ollongren, it's a pleasure to host you here at the Pentagon and it's a great opportunity to build on the momentum from the historic NATO Summit in Madrid and which we both just got back from. Our discussions in Madrid underscored the importance of our transatlantic relationships to our shared security, especially after Russia's indefensible and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. So Madam Minister, I want to personally thank you for everything that you're doing to support the Ukrainian people as they defend their lives, their freedom, and their democracy.
The Netherlands has heeded Ukraine's calls for defensive and lethal equipment, especially in high-priority areas such as artillery and coastal defense. Your government has also helped bolster NATO's eastern flank by sending forces to Lithuania, Slovakia, and Romania, and as I -- you've heard me say before, I've never seen NATO more united than it is right now.
We also welcome your government's support for E.U. sanctions on Russian energy to impose further economic cost on Moscow, and I want to thank you for your leadership in moving toward your NATO commitments and for increasing your defense budget to invest in modern and relevant capabilities.
We have a strong and long-standing defense relationship with the Netherlands, and I'm really proud of that. Your air and maritime capabilities increase our interoperability, and we look forward to future opportunities to train and to operate together with your military. And you know, our corporation -- cooperation spans the globe. We cooperate in the Middle East and Africa to counter terrorism. We work together in the Caribbean to counter drug smuggling, and I know that the Netherlands is also committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific. So I'm looking forward to discussing how we can work together to more effectively work in that strategically crucial region.
So we've got a lot of -- a lot of ground to cover today, Madam Minister, and again, I want to thank you for making the trip, and I look forward to a great discussion.
NETHERLANDS MINISTER OF DEFENSE KAJSA OLLONGREN: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, dear Lloyd. It's an honor to be here and to -- and to receive such a warm welcome. We have met on several occasions already, in Brussels and Ramstein, in Madrid, as you mentioned, and in Singapore, even, and now, here in Washington, and I've come to know you in these past four months as a rock-solid person and someone we really can rely on. So thank you for -- for that. Thank you for your leadership, I think, throughout your career, decades in military service. You've shown yourself to be a true leader, and I think that's what we need right now with this war raging in -- in Ukraine. I think we -- our joint task is really to protect important values and protect freedom of -- of people.
And I also want to say, dear Lloyd, that as a true leader of the Department of Defense, you have also shown that you can stand up for women's health and -- and for their wellbeing while we see the legal strife that has caused uncertainty for them here in the United States. I want to thank you for that, as well.
I see that you are working tirelessly to really, to enable Ukraine to defend itself against this evil and unprovoked invasion by Russia. You have gathered Allies and partners over -- all over the world in -- and in this Ukraine support group, and really taken that support to a new level, pushing all to do more and leading by example. And we stand ready to work with you and to everything we can to help Ukraine to protect its freedom and independence.
We have been, as you said, Mr. Secretary, long-standing Allies, natural partners between the United States and the Netherlands. Our partnership dates back to the Netherlands' support to the American Revolution, the early recognition of the United States and its independence in 1782. We welcomed John Adams as the first U.S. envoy to the Netherlands, who, of course, we all know him as the second President of the United States.
And I'd like to quote him. He wrote to his wife, Abigail, in 1777, and he wrote, and I quote, "You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it." I found that a beautiful quote.
So our relationship is based on common commitment to freedom and rights, and as you said, we are now more united than ever. Our defense cooperation is outstanding. We know that we can count on each other. We have had joint missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. We worked together in the field of cyber and intelligence in countering illicit trafficking in the Caribbean, and we also are, as (inaudible) a gateway to Europe, providing host nation support to U.S. troops and welcoming the U.S. to the E.U. defense project of military mobility.
So we all have to step up in the face of war to Europe. We are trying to restore the right balance between hard power and soft power capabilities, and we are investing heavily in our defense. We will spend two percent of GDP in 2024. We'll increase our defense spending by 40 percent. We are buying, and I can tell you that yesterday, our parliament approved extra F-35 jets and also MQ-9 Reapers, which are to invest more in capabilities, and that means that you can count on the Dutch Armed Forces. I'm looking forward to working together with you even more in our international defense cooperation and to tighten our transatlantic bond.
Thank you.
SEC. AUSTIN: Well, thank you, Madam Minister.
Thanks, everybody.
