MIVD

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday that the four Russian spies caught in The Hague in April was in the Netherlands for a routine trip. Russia denies that the secret service agents wanted to hack into chemical weapon watchdog OPCW, NU.nl reports. 

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his British counterpart Theresa May released a joint statement in which they denounced cyber attacks by Russian secret service GRU as unacceptable. They called attacks on international organizations like the United Nations' Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reckless and destructive.

Two Russian spies were arrested in the Netherlands, with the help of Dutch military intelligence service MIVD, this past spring. The two were on their way to Switzerland to hack into a laboratory currently doing investigations that may negatively affect Russia, NRC reports based on its own research.

The government does not have to withdraw its new law on the Dutch intelligence and security services in its current form, the court ruled on Tuesday in summary proceedings filed by a group of privacy organizations and companies, NU.nl reports.

Two former employees of Dutch military intelligence service MIVD fear for their lives after decorated soldier Marco Kroon revealed details about a secret operation in Afghanistan to the media, they said to Nieuwsuur.

The two former intelligence workers, who are of Afghan origin but have been living in the Netherlands for years, asked to remain anonymous, according to Nieuwsuur. They are preparing a lawsuit against the Ministry of Defense, with which they hope to force the Ministry to help them build a new life elsewhere in Europe.

The government's plans on how to change the new law for the Dutch intelligence services after a majority voted against it in a referendum, leaked on Thursday night. The changes are "mostly cosmetic" and don't do justice the results of the advisory referendum, according to privacy organization Bits of Freedom, NOS reports.

A majority of Dutch voted against the new law for the Dutch intelligence and security services, the Electoral Council officially announced on Thursday. In total 49.4 percent voted against the law, 46.5 percent voted for it, and 4 percent cast a blank vote, NU.nl reports.

52 percent of Dutch voters voted in the referendum, far above the 30 percent minimum turnout required for the referendum to be valid. 

With 80 percent of the votes in the referendum on whether or not to implement a new law for the Dutch intelligence and security services counted, opponents to the law are taking the lead. Of the counted votes, 49 percent were against the law, and 47 percent for. Around 4 percent of the votes were blank, the Volkskrant reports.

Around 53 percent of voters voted in the referendum, far above the 30 percent required for the referendum to be valid. 

Today around 13 million Dutch can vote in a referendum on whether or not to implement a new law for intelligence services AIVD and MIVD. Polling stations opened at 7:30 a.m. and most will remain open until 9:00 p.m.

The Dutch intelligence services placed 3,553 taps to eavesdrop on people and organizations last year, Ministers Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs and Ank Bijleveld of Defense reported to parliament on Wednesday. This is the first time that the services' tap statistics are made public, NU.nl reports.

Two Dutch intelligence services uncovered substantial evidence detailing how a Russian-backed hacking group infiltrated the Barack Obama White House, the U.S. Department of State, and the Democratic National Committee, according to a ground breaking report from broadcaster NOS and newspaper Volkskrant.