Over 6,000 military service personnel and defence ministry civil servants are facing compulsory redundancies, ahead of Friday’s cabinet decision on how to make savings of €1bn in the defence budget, Nos television reports.

Earlier this week, the Volkskrant had said 5,000 people faced the sack.
In total, 12,300 defence ministry jobs will go as part of the savings package, Nos says. Some 2,300 vacancies will not be filled and a further 4,000 people will not be replaced when they leave.
The ministry currently has a workforce of almost 69,000.
All ranks
The job losses will affect all ranks in the defence ministry, according to government sources quoted in the Volkskrant.
Defence minister Hans Hillen also plans to scrap tanks and Cougar helicopters, to cut the 87 F-16 fighter jets by around a third and to sell off a number of naval vessels.
The controversial purchase of a second JSF fighter jet for €100m will go ahead to protect the participation of Dutch firms in its development and production.