The shortage of manpower and equipment is beginning to have a serious affect on the way the Dutch armed forces operate abroad, the Volkskrant says on Friday.

This lack of resources is one reason why the big Dutch missions to Iraq and Mali are being wound down, the paper says.

Defence experts and insiders have warned that Dutch involvement in other major foreign missions will become more difficult and defence minister Jeanine Hennis has also sounded the alarm, the paper says.

Ko Colijn, head of the foreign policy research institute Clingendael, told the paper that until now, foreign missions have had priority, despite the cuts. ‘But things have gone further now,’ he said. ‘The missions themselves are in danger.’

The national audit office said last month that the cuts of the past decades are beginning to have a serious impact on the armed forces’ performance.