At least three army barracks are to close their doors permanently while other institutions will be relocated and buildings sold off as part of the defence ministry’s plans to cut spending by €1bn over four years.

The Koningin Beatrix barracks and Prinses Juliana barracks in The Hague and Nassau Diet barracks in Budel are to be shut down, defence minister Hans Hillen said on Wednesday in a briefing to MPs.
A financial department in Kerkrade is to move to Limburg and the army section at the Kamp Nieuw Milligen base near Apeldoorn is to close. The remaining military buildings on the former Twente airbase are also to be sold off and military training centres relocated or merged.
The amount the real estate sales will generate has not yet been finalised, Hillen said.
Hillen said earlier the cuts will involve reducing the ministry’s workforce from 69,000 to 57,000. He also announced plans to scrap tanks and Cougar helicopters, to cut the number of 87 F-16 fighter jets by around a third and to sell off a number of naval vessels.