foreign influence

A woman with her head covered stands on an Amsterdam bridge with a mosque in the background

Small group of orthodox Muslims causing problems in mosques, council of of mosques says

Feb 17 '20 16:40
BusinessPolitics

A small group of younger, orthodox Muslims are causing problems in mosques by pressuring other believers to follow a the "strict" course, Said Bouharrou, vice-president of the Council of Moroccan Mosques in the Netherlands, said to the parliamentary committee investigating foreign influence in Dutch Islamic institutions on Monday, NOS reports.

"They are told 'you are not a good Muslim'," Bouharrou said. This small group of orthodox believers also accuse other Muslims of sowing divisions in the faith, he said. 

Old flag (left) and new flag (right) in the Tweede Kamer, 29 May 2018

Witness threatened after speaking in foreign influence on mosques investigation

Feb 14 '20 11:00
Crime

Hajer Harzi, a board member of the Al Houda mosque in Geleen, received serious threats after she spoke to a parliamentary committee investigating the possible influence of extremist ideology from abroad on Dutch mosques. "You wouldn't wish that on anyone," Harzi said on talk show Op 1. She reported the threats to the police.

Praying in a mosque

Mosques ask MPs to investigate all religions for unwanted influencing from abroad

Feb 5 '20 11:00
Politics

A parliamentary investigation into unwanted influence from abroad must not only focus on Islam and mosques, but should also look into foreign money flows to political parties, churches and synagogues, four Islamic organizations asked in a letter to Tweede Kamer president Khadija Arib, NOS reports.

Ank Bjleveld

Netherlands in "cyber war" with Russia, Defense Minister says

Oct 15 '18 07:44
CrimePolitics

The Netherlands is the midst of a "cyber war" with Russia, Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld said on television program WNL op Zondag. According to the Minister, a foiled cyber attack by the Russian secret service on chemical weapons watchdog OPCW shows that the nature of war has changed.

Twitter

Russian online trolls influence discussions on MH17, anti-Islam PVV in Netherlands: report

Aug 29 '18 09:24
PoliticsTechnology

Russian trolls are trying to influence Dutch discussions on social media with fake accounts, De Groene Amsterdammer reports based on its own research. These trolls show support for anti-Islam party PVV and spread pro-Russian information when it comes to the MH17 disaster, according to the weekly newspaper.

Kasja Ollongren

Dutch gov't to limit foreign donations to political parties

Feb 2 '18 09:11
Politics

In order to prevent undesirable influence on Dutch democracy, the government wants to limit foreign donations to Dutch political parties, Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer on Thursday.

Kasja Ollongren

Dutch gov't takes official stance against Fake News, foreign electioneering

Dec 19 '17 09:00
PoliticsTop Stories

With the municipal elections and a referendum on the new Big Data law for the Dutch intelligence services coming up in March next year, the Dutch government has taken an official stance against fake news and foreign meddling and is taking more steps to battle these attempts to influence public opinion in the Netherlands.

Geert Wilders

Secret service investigated Wilders' Israeli contacts

Dec 2 '16 07:41
PoliticsTop Stories

In 2009 and 2010 intelligence service AIVD investigated PVV leader Geert Wilders' contacts in Israel, the Volkskrant reports based on its own research. The AIVD was concerned about Wilders' loyalty and that he was possibly being influenced by Israel, according to the newspaper.

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