Defence officials are telling the people of Leeuwarden to brace for night practice flights. Their justification? “That’s the price we have to pay for freedom.” It is a cynical slogan that tries to drown out jet noise with moral blackmail.
The freedom of roaring jet engines
Freedom is not measured in decibels of roaring engines over sleeping neighbourhoods. It is measured in the ability of communities to decide what happens above their heads, how public money is spent, and whether their lives are subordinated to a permanent war economy.
Sleepless nights without democratic consent
Leeuwarden’s residents are being told they must simply endure sleepless nights, air pollution and psychological stress – without debate, without democratic consent, without any serious discussion of alternatives. Meanwhile, through the “freedom contribution” we all pay for these exercise flights. This is presented as inevitable: NATO demands it, security requires it, end of story. But this is a political choice, not a law of nature.
Hypocrisy on afterburners
Europe has committed on paper to cutting emissions, electrifying transport, and phasing out unnecessary flights. Military aviation is among the world’s largest consumers of oil, yet it remains a blind spot: every tonne of jet fuel burnt in these “exercises” undermines the same climate targets our governments claim are non-negotiable. Civil aviation is supposed to be replaced by high-speed rail where possible; at the same time, fighter jets burn fuel above our heads for manoeuvres whose purpose nobody outside the defence ministry can properly scrutinise. This is hypocrisy on afterburners.
A blind spot for pollution
The same blind spot applies to pollution. The Jelsumer Feart source investigation confirmed the airbase as a source of PFAS contamination, yet there is no systematic monitoring of groundwater around the base and no data on PFAS in drinking water sources. The RIVM’s human biomonitoring programme focuses on Chemours and the Westerschelde – Leeuwarden is excluded, even though this is one of the largest PFAS contaminations in the Netherlands. GGD Fryslân has issued only advice on use (don’t sprinkle, don’t swim, don’t fish), but no systematic health impact assessment has been carried out for local residents. If the government expects people to carry the burdens of military activity, it must also monitor what those burdens do to their health and their children’s health – and make that information public. The ministry must do better than this.
If this really was about freedom
If this really was about freedom, the first step would be transparency and choice. Why are these night flights needed at this scale? What concrete diplomatic efforts are being made to de-escalate, to build a European security architecture based on disarmament instead of intimidation? Where is the plan to reduce military movements, as even EU climate policy now demands, so that resources can be redirected to our real emergencies: climate breakdown, housing, health, social cohesion?
What Europe actually needs
Europe does not need more noise, more jets, more pretend toughness in the skies above Friesland. It needs the courage to break with NATO’s logic of permanent readiness and manufactured fear; the honesty to say that adding military emissions to an already burning planet is indefensible; and the decency to put the health and peace of its citizens before the comfort of generals.
Our nights, our skies, our future
The “price of freedom” in Leeuwarden today is being set by people who will not pay it. Residents have every right to say: our nights, our skies, our future – not your war games.
[Reaction to a news article about Monday’s COVM meeting, in Leeuwarder Courant. Title of the article: Donderspeech van Defensie in Leeuwarden: nachtvliegen is hard nodig, ’maar wij zijn geen Tata Steel]
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