Benelux & Ireland in January 2026: the most important developments in security
In Benelux and Ireland in January 2026, an explosion in the Netherlands on 15 January injured at least four people and damaged homes. The same day, Estonia, the Netherlands and Finland said they were ready to support a European military exercise in Greenland. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance is working on next steps to boost Arctic security, and on 12 January he commented on a Russian strike, saying it signals NATO to drop support for Ukraine.
On defence policy, France and Spain rejected the Dutch prime minister's scepticism about European defence on 27 January. On 30 January the Netherlands' ruling coalition declared Russia a key security threat. In Belgium, the army chief said on 23 January that compulsory military service may be reconsidered, and the intelligence service warned that the PKK in Belgium could cause public order problems.
Criminal cases included a Belgian court jailing a Turkish boat supplier for Channel crossings and a Dutch court sentencing an Eritrean migrant smuggler to 20 years. The EU signalled possible further measures after an OPCW report on a chemical attack in Syria, and the UK was said to be at risk from decade-old Houthi shell companies.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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