THE HAGUE: Dutch judges on Wednesday turned down a lawsuit calling for a submarine deal between the Netherlands and France to be revised, saying there was “no reason” to further investigate the multi-billion-euro agreement.
The Netherlands in March picked French defense company Naval Group and its Dutch partner Royal IHC to build four new submarines for its navy, choosing the bid over one from Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Swedish defense group Saab AB.
TKMS then filed an objection before The Hague District Court, saying it believed that the Dutch state “has wrongly judged that its offer is invalid.”
The Kiel-based ship and submarine builder wanted judges to order a repeat of the procurement process “in an adapted form” or that “at least various further investigations would be carried out and that a new award decision would then be made.”
Dutch judges however said the state’s decision to declare TKMS’s bid invalid was “on good grounds.”
“Contrary to what TKMS argued, there is no reason for further investigations into Naval’s submission,” it added.
“The judge therefore dismisses TKMS’s claims in the summary proceedings.”
The vessels are set to replace the Netherland’s four Walrus class subs which entered service in the early 1990s. One of the Walrus class subs was decommissioned last year so that its spare parts could be used to keep the other three in operation.
An outgoing Dutch parliament in June approved the deal, ahead of the new government led by Dutch MP Geert Wilders’ far-right PVV party.
The decision is a boon for Naval Group, coming three years after it abruptly lost a major contract to build 12 Barracuda submarines for Australia.
It also comes as European countries have stepped up military spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The submarines will be built in Naval Group’s shipyards, but there will also be an industrial cooperation accord to “reinforce the technological and industrial base of the Dutch defense industry,” the French defense ministry has said.
The first two subs are to enter service within 10 years of the contract being signed.
Dutch court tosses out submarine deal lawsuit
https://arab.news/pmv2n
Dutch court tosses out submarine deal lawsuit
- The Netherlands in March picked French defense company Naval Group and its Dutch partner Royal IHC to build four new submarines for its navy
- Dutch judges however said the state’s decision to declare TKMS’s bid invalid was “on good grounds“
US senators visit key Ukrainian port city as they push for fresh sanctions on Russia
- The visit and the push for Congress to take up sanctions on Russia come at a crucial moment in the conflict
WASHINGTON: A delegation of US senators was returning Wednesday from a trip to Ukraine, hoping to spur action in Congress for a series of sanctions meant to economically cripple Moscow and pressure President Vladimir Putin to make key concessions in peace talks.
It was the first time US senators have visited Odesa, Ukraine’s third-most populous city and an economically crucial Black Sea port that has been particularly targeted by Russia, since the war began nearly four years ago. Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Coons, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse made the trip. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis had planned to join but was unable to for personal reasons.
“One of the things we heard wherever we stopped today was that the people of Ukraine want a peace deal, but they want a peace deal that preserves their sovereignty, that recognizes the importance of the integrity of Ukraine,” Shaheen said on a phone call with reporters.
The visit and the push for Congress to take up sanctions on Russia come at a crucial moment in the conflict. Delegations for the two sides were also meeting in Switzerland for two days of US-brokered talks, but neither side appeared ready to budge on key issues like territory and future security guarantees. The sanctions, senators hoped, could prod Putin toward settling for peace, as the US has set a June deadline for settlement.
“Literally nobody believes that Russia is acting in good faith in the negotiations with our government and with the Ukrainians,” Whitehouse said. “And so pressure becomes the key.”
Still, legislation to impose tough sanctions on Russia has been on hold in Congress for months.
Senators have put forward a range of sanction measures, including one sweeping bill that would allows the Trump administration to impose tariffs and secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports, which are crucial to financing Russia’s military. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has also advanced a series of more-targeted bills that would sanction China’s efforts to support Russia’s military, commandeer frozen Russian assets and go after what’s known as Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers being used to circumvent sanctions already in place.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has co-sponsored the Senate’s sweeping sanctions and tariff legislation, also released a statement during the Munich Security Conference this weekend saying that Senate Majority Leader John Thune had committed to bringing up the sanctions bill once it clearly has the 60 votes needed to move through the Senate.
“This legislation will be a game changer,” Graham said. “President Trump has embraced it. It is time to vote.”
Blumenthal, who co-sponsored that bill alongside Graham, also said there is bipartisan support for the legislation, which he called a “very tough sledgehammer of sanctions and tariffs,” but he also noted that “we need to work out some of the remaining details.” Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, have been opposed to President Donald Trump’s campaign to impose tariffs around the world in an effort to strike trade deals and spur more manufacturing in the US
In the House, Democrats are opposed to the tariff provisions of that bill. Instead, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, has proposed separate legislation that makes it more difficult for Trump to waive sanctions, but does away with the tariff provisions.
A separate bill, led by the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks, would bolster US military support for Ukraine by $8 billion. Democrats currently need one more Republican to support an effort to force a vote on that bill.
Once they return to the US, the senators said they would detail how US businesses based in Ukraine have been attacked by Russia. The Democrats are also hoping to build pressure on Trump to send more US weapons to Ukraine. “Putin understands weapons, not words,” Blumenthal said.
Still, the lawmakers will soon return to a Washington where the Trump administration is ambivalent about its long-term commitments to securing peace in Ukraine, as well as Europe. For now, at least, they were buoyed by the conversations from their European counterparts and Republican colleagues.
“We and the Republican senators who were with us in Munich spoke with one voice about our determination to continue to support Ukraine,” Coons said.
