Joint Statement on the United Kingdom-Netherlands Bilateral Security Partnership
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-03)

Joint Statement agreed between the UK and Netherlands on deepening security ties.

Introduction

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“the UK”) and the Netherlands are strong allies and close partners. We both value democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and cooperate closely on foreign and security policy. We will continue to strengthen and sustain a free, fair, rules-based global economic order. In their meeting of 6 February 2025, our Prime Ministers committed to deepening UK-Netherlands cooperation through this Joint Statement. Foreign Ministers will continue to hold an annual Strategic Dialogue to review the bilateral relationship, supported by senior official level bilateral dialogues across the year. Ministerial level dialogues on individual policy themes will be held whenever both our countries deem appropriate.

The Joint Statement below sets out our renewed ambition for our bilateral security partnership enhancing our collective security, safeguarding our national interests, borders, and critical infrastructure against evolving threats in a more challenging geopolitical context.

Euro-Atlantic Security

The UK and the Netherlands reiterate the importance of Euro-Atlantic Security. We remain fully committed to NATO and European security as a shared responsibility. We will strengthen collective defence to reinforce European security and cooperate where possible in regional or multilateral defence initiatives. We will explore opportunities for strategic capability cooperation to deliver credible deterrence and defence, effective military capabilities, facilitating growth and innovation of the European Defence Technical Industrial Base and intergovernmental cooperation.

We will drive modernisation and innovation to support NATO in maintaining its technological edge in the face of pervasive instability and rising strategic competition. We remain committed to cooperation through the Joint Expeditionary Force and to our strong bilateral cooperation, including through the bilateral UK/Netherlands Amphibious Force, delivered through the Defence Action Plan and Joint Vision Statement.

We will work together to ensure a secure, resilient and prosperous Europe. We will strengthen the Strategic Partnership between the UK and the European Union, including through the Security and Defence Partnership between the EU and the UK.

We reaffirm that there will be no let-up in our support for Ukraine and we will work together to galvanise further international support for Ukraine. We strongly support Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration and commit to working through NATO to support Ukraine’s reform efforts. Together we will continue to focus on enhancing the development of international rule of law and accountability for international crimes.

With respect to MH17, we welcome this year’s judgment by the European Court of Human Rights and decision by the ICAO Council both confirming Russia’s responsibility in the downing of Flight MH17. The pursuit for truth, justice and accountability for the victims remains critically important. Their loved ones deserve closure.

State, Hybrid and Cyber Threats

We share a deep concern about the threats posed by state actors engaging in hybrid activities aimed at undermining our national security and democratic values and that of our allies and partners. These activities include, but are not limited to, physical threats toward individuals, transnational repression, sabotage, political interference, malicious cyber activity, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) and economic coercion.

We will strengthen operational and diplomatic cooperation to understand, counter and respond to these threats through dialogues, information sharing and informal exchanges, thereby protecting critical infrastructure in the North Sea and strengthening the security and resilience of both our countries. We will expand information sharing on the hybrid threat landscape.

We will continue to jointly work to counter FIMI, working together on analysis, information-sharing and collective response to raise the cost for malign actors, including in multilateral fora, and to promote resilient, healthy, open and fact-based environments. On cyber, we are committed to deepening our cooperation by bringing together operational and regulatory expertise from both our countries, including countering cybercrime. We remain determined to counter the proliferation and irresponsible use of commercial cyber intrusion capabilities. We reaffirm our commitment to cooperation on sanctions policy and implementation, to strengthen their effectiveness. We will continue to hold regular bilateral exchanges on our approaches to hybrid threats, economic security, as well as research security.

We remain committed to ensuring our law enforcement and security agencies have the tools they need to address the threats our societies face, including maintaining lawful access to data, and we shall work towards a general security agreement for the exchange and mutual protection of classified information.

Serious and Organised Crime

Transnational serious and organised crime threatens the collective safety, security and prosperity of our countries. We reaffirm our commitment to enhancing diplomatic, law enforcement and justice cooperation in the fight against Serious Organised Crime, including drug related crime.

We will continue to hold the annual senior official level dialogue to strengthen ongoing cooperation and identify further areas of bilateral and multilateral collaboration against shared threats such as transnational drug smuggling, illicit firearms, illicit financial flows, and continued criminal offending in detention.

We will continue exploring further options for cooperation in priority regions (Latin America, the Caribbean, West Africa, and the Western Balkans), through joint threat assessments, research projects and operations.

Irregular Migration

We will strengthen cooperation to tackle organised immigration crime related to human smuggling and address the drivers of irregular migration. We will work closely within the Calais Group, as well as bilaterally, and will engage with third countries to combat upstream migration.

Economic Growth and Energy Security

We will jointly mitigate global risks to economic growth and trade, through continued bilateral dialogues, including our economic security dialogue, and cooperation on investment-analyses, and supply chains resilience. We will seize opportunities in new and emerging technologies and accelerate cooperation in areas such as quantum technology, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence through the Innovation Partnership, signed in November 2025 and led by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Ministries of Economic Affairs and Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands.

We will engage in a new energy partnership based on our ambitious Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation on matters of bilateral importance in the areas of global clean energy transition and energy security. We will continue annual dialogues on winter preparedness and security of supply, building on discussions at the North Sea Neighbours conference and through the North Seas Energy Cooperation group, to identify ways to support the clean energy transition as a long-term solution to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels. Recognising our interconnected energy markets and shared infrastructure, including the first-of-a-kind LionLink offshore hybrid asset project, we will maintain regular contact to drive the global transition to clean energy through the development of reliable, affordable and sustainable energy sources.

We will work together for strong climate and environmental action, securing finance for climate adaptation and the circular transition, advancing sustainable agriculture and water management, combatting deforestation and land degradation. We commit to regular Ministerial discussions on delivering on our Paris Agreement commitments and leveraging our position as North Sea neighbours to accelerate our path towards net-zero.

Research and Science Cooperation

We will continue to support the longstanding collaboration of higher education, research institutes and other knowledge organisations between our countries. We jointly support the importance of core academic values such as academic freedom, the safety of scientists, open science, diversity and inclusion and research security in international research and innovation (R&I) and will continue to promote these values whilst working together to tackle global challenges through knowledge diplomacy, scientific discoveries and innovative application. We welcome the renewed opportunities for our scientists and innovators to collaborate closely in the current EU Framework Programmes for R&I, and look forward to future cooperation as the EU progresses on the development and implementation of the tenth Framework Programme. We also continue to strengthen cooperation in other bilateral and multilateral contexts, such as within the OECD, UNESCO, G20, G7, and through shared membership in large-scale research infrastructures, such as the Einstein Telescope that are important to both countries. With regards to science policy, we will continue to exchange best practices on topics of national and international importance, such as societal impact or greening of research and science communication, also within the context of the European Research Area.

Strengthening Diplomatic Ties

We will continue to strengthen our diplomatic ties and cooperation with business, industry and civil society. We continue our annual bilateral ‘North Sea Neighbours’ conference and our annual joint training of early career British and Dutch diplomats. We will build on the success of previous secondments and commit to further exchanges to enhance shared understanding of our respective government systems and policy priorities.

Structuring Our Bilateral Cooperation

The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will have coordinating responsibility for the implementation of the Joint Statement, notwithstanding the individual responsibilities of other government departments for certain arrangements stipulated herein. They will meet at least annually to review progress, propose new initiatives and consider possibilities for further cooperation.

Our ambassadors and representatives of our respective foreign ministries will lead on the implementation of this Joint Statement. We will coordinate further bilateral arrangements made under the framework of this Joint Statement and report progress to ministers, ensuring that our activity reflects current priorities and the changing geopolitical context in which our cooperation takes place.

This Joint Statement is not legally binding and does not give rise to any rights or obligations under domestic or international law.

Signed at the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels, Belgium on 3 December 2025, in the English language.

The Foreign Secretary of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Yvette Cooper

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Kingdom of the Netherlands, David van Weel