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22 April 2009 A Dutch intelligence service warned
Tuesday of a growing threat posed by foreign espionage
in the country, pointing in particular to Russia,
China and Morocco.
"The Netherlands and Dutch citizens are...
attractive targets for foreign intelligence services,"
said the annual report of the General Intelligence and
Security Service (AIVD), released in The Hague.
"The threat posed by clandestine intelligence
activities is big and diverse.
"The secret activities of other countries in the
Netherlands affects national sovereignty and can harm
national security."
Dutch membership of the European Union and NATO, as
well as the country's hosting of a number of
international organisations, made it a prime target
for spies, said the report.
"Also the presence of large groups of migrants
attracts unwonted foreign intelligence activities."
The agency's report said Russian intelligence
services were active in the Netherlands with a
particular interest in information about NATO, the
techno-science sector, the defence industry and
energy.
China was seeking to "exert influence over
political decision-making" in different sectors, it
said, while the Moroccan intelligence service "had
attempted to set up a network of informants in the
Netherlands."
In September, the Dutch government protested
through diplomatic channels after claims that a
policeman of Moroccan descent had been dismissed on
suspicion of spying, leading Morocco to recall two
diplomats from The Hague.
The AIVD said Tuesday that too much government and
individual transparency posed a real danger, adding:
"The Dutch are not sufficiently aware of the risks of
espionage and foreign manipulation."
It also warned that the country with its
technological advances was an "interesting target for
countries and organisations that pursue the possession
of weapons of mass destruction."
The AIVD, which focuses its intelligence gathering
on non-military threats, reports to the minister of
internal affairs.
It said "jihadist terrorism" was a danger to the
Netherlands, particularly since far-right Dutch MP
Geert Wilders brought out his anti-Islam film Fitna.
There were more and more reports of people from
Europe undergoing military training in Pakistan and
Afghanistan, said the service.
The Dutch terror level was raised a year ago from
"limited" to "substantial". |
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