Relationship dossier
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Romania
Relationship assessment
Defence cooperation and Romania’s Schengen accession coexist with earlier Dutch concerns over rule-of-law issues.
Kingdom of the Netherlands toward Romania
+15The Netherlands contributed forces to NATO's enhanced presence in Romania following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, the Dutch government ended its opposition to Romania joining the Schengen area, after earlier raising rule-of-law and corruption concerns.
Romania toward Kingdom of the Netherlands
+15Romania hosted Dutch forces deployed as part of NATO's enhanced presence following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This involved practical cooperation with the Netherlands on Romania's defence, although the scope of other bilateral Romanian government initiatives is unclear.
Overall relationship
+20The relationship combines practical defence cooperation, including the Dutch military presence in Romania, with Romania's eventual Schengen accession after years of Dutch objections. These features indicate cooperation alongside a notable dispute over rule-of-law concerns.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The Netherlands and Romania cooperate through concrete defence measures, including the deployment of Dutch forces to Romania as part of NATO's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Netherlands also ended its opposition to Romania's Schengen accession in 2022. Earlier Dutch objections over rule-of-law and corruption concerns created a significant bilateral point of friction.
Areas of tension
- Dutch objections to Romania's Schengen accession over rule-of-law and corruption concerns
Key developments
The Netherlands ended its opposition to Romania's Schengen accession.
Dutch forces joined NATO's enhanced presence in Romania following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Major uncertainties
- The scale and duration of Dutch-Romanian bilateral defence cooperation beyond NATO deployments are unclear.
- The extent of continuing Dutch government concerns about Romanian rule-of-law reforms is unclear.