In January the Netherlands will again deploy F-16 fighter jets to fight in the coalition against terrorist organization ISIS in Syria and Iraq, sources confirmed to the Telegraaf. A total of six jets will be sent, four for fighting and two as reserve, and they will be stationed at the Al-Azraq airbase in Jordan, according to the newspaper.
Russia
Aug 29 '17 07:58
The Netherlands' intelligence services and Defense are not adequately prepared to map and face digital threats from abroad, Brigadier General Wilfred Rietdijk said to the Volkskrant. He specifically warns against fake news, naming Russia in particular. According to Rietdijk, the Netherlands must establish a new, specialized organization for identifying these threats and preparing for an "information war".
Aug 9 '17 16:50
Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be visiting the 270 Dutch soldiers stationed in Rukla, Lithuania on Thursday and Friday. Commander of the Armed Forces Tom Middendorp will accompany him on this visit, NOS reports.
The Dutch troops are part of the NATO force aimed at preventing Russia from taking root in the Baltic states. The soldiers also serve the purpose of reassuring the Eastern European allies.
Rutte's program includes a number of events, including a demonstration by NATO troops and a meeting with Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite.
Jul 17 '17 10:29
A group of relatives of MH17 victims gathered in front of the Russian embassy in The Hague on Sunday for a silent protest. "Stop playing games. Be a nation as proud and worthy as your people", the group wrote in a message to Russia. They accuse the country of hindering the investigation focussed on finding the truth, RTL Nieuws reports.
The relatives took a remembrance bench to the protest. A metal plate attached to the bench states in Russian: "Humanity over politics", according to the broadcaster.
Jul 10 '17 09:08
Prime Minister Mark Rutte used the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg this weekend to speak with Russian president Vladimir Putin about the MH17 disaster and the decision to prosecute the perpetrators in the Netherlands under Dutch law, NOS reports.
Jul 5 '17 07:45
Those responsible for downing flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, will stand trial in the Netherlands, the five countries most involved with the disaster decided on Tuesday night. The decision follows long consultation between the countries, the Volkskrant reports.
Jun 1 '17 09:43
Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte clashed with CDA parliamentarian Pieter Omtzigt on the subject of the political relationship with Russia and the MH17 investigation in parliament on Wednesday. Rutte told Omtzigt to think about whether he wants to keep making "a political number out of MH17", or if he'd rather have the "bastards" responsible convicted, RTL Nieuws reports.
May 24 '17 09:16
The Dutch diplomatic network is in a "worrying state" and "urgently" needs to be strenghtened to avoid a diplomatic crisis, the advice council for international issues AIV said in a report on Wednesday. The new government will have to invest an extra 70 to 80 million euros annually into the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the report states according to ANP.
May 16 '17 08:31
The investigation into the MH17 disaster is in a difficult phase and far from over, the Public Prosecutor wrote in a digital magazine meant to keep the victims' relatives informed about what is happening in the MH17 file. The investigators are having trouble getting data from the Ukrainian secret service and cooperation with Russia remains difficult, the Prosecutor wrote on Monday, RTL Nieuws reports.
The investigation is now in its "most difficult phase", the Prosecutor wrote. "Booking progress at this stage is much more difficult."
May 8 '17 09:34
The number of cross-border child abductions in the Netherlands showed a significant increase in 2016. Last year a total of 251 children were reported kidnapped to the Dutch center of international child abductions IKO, 14 more than in 2015, the center announced according to RTL Nieuws.
Most of these abductions involved a parent taking a child abroad following a divorce or separation. Most of the abducted children were below the age of 6, the youngest one was two months old at the time of abduction. In 70 percent of the cases, the perpetrator is female.
Apr 26 '17 07:42
The net is closing around the people responsible for the downing of flight MH17. Former Russian soldier Sergej Doebinski was identified on audio recordings as the person who arranged the transport of the BUK missile that shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight in eastern Ukraine, RTL Nieuws reports.
Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta spoke to the person who identified Doebinski. Doebinski is an old acquaintance of the man and he recognized his voice. At the time of the MH17 disaster, Doebinski was fighting with separatists against the Ukrainian army.
Apr 25 '17 07:34
Russia denies hacking into other countries' IT systems. On Monday the Dutch military intelligence agency reported that Russia tried to hack into the computers of Dutch weapons manufacturers. But according to the Kremlin, this is not true, RTL Nieuws reports.
Apr 24 '17 15:15
Russia's efforts to destabilize the Netherlands, Europe and NATO are so serious that military intelligence agency MIVD considers it the second largest security risk to the Netherlands and the Western world in general. Terrorism stands in first place, MIVD General Major Onno Eichelsheim said at the presentation of the agency's annual report on Monday, NU.nl reports.
Apr 20 '17 08:30
The municipality of Amsterdam calls on the Dutch government to admonish Russia about camps in Chechnya in which homosexual men are being locked up, alderman Eric van der Burg said at a protest against these camps at the gay monument in the Dutch capital on Wednesday. Amsterdam also wants State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice to change the asylum policy for Chechen LGBT men, ANP reports.
Apr 11 '17 14:20
Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert wants to keep Dutch soldiers in Lithuania for longer, she said during a visit to the soldiers there. Officially the mission ends at the end of this year, but she thinks the Dutch aid will be needed for longer, RTL Nieuws reports.
"We will stay here for as long as die situation requires it, but we will also look at what other allies can do", Hennis said, according to the broadcaster. "Huge investments are being made here."
Mar 21 '17 07:54
Dutch banks ING and Amsterdam Trade Bank are listed with 730 other banks as financial institutions that helped Russian criminals launder money, international investigative journalist collaboration OCCRP revealed. A total of 19 billion dollars were laundered through these 732 banks between January 2011 and October 2014, according to the group, AD reports.
Mar 10 '17 13:10
While the outcome of the Dutch parliamentary elections next week may not be of vital interest to Russia, Russian hackers are targeting the Netherlands as a warm up for the elections in Germany and France, Ronald Prins, co-founder of cyber security company Fox-IT, said to DW.com.
Mar 10 '17 09:55
The state of the Dutch armed forces is extremely worrying, according to advisory council on international affairs AIV in an advice report to the cabinet titled 'Russia and the Dutch defense efforts'. According to the report, the "employability of the armed forces was further undermined this government term" and if the policy is not changed, the basic readiness of the army will only be back in order in 2021, NU.nl reports.
Mar 6 '17 10:11
The Ukraine and Russia are facing off in a lawsuit filed by the Ukraine at the international Court of Justice in The Hague from today. Kiev wants the ICJ to condemn "Russian aggression" and order the country to pay compensation for all "fatal events", including the downing of flight MH17 in 2014, AD reports.
Mar 2 '17 08:24
Last year Dutch and British intelligence services, and other United States allies, warned Washington that people close to Russian president Vladimir Putin was in contact with people around then presidential candidate Donald Trump, the New York Times reports based on a number of sources who worked in the White House during the Obama regime.
According to the newspaper, several of these White House employees put effort into spreading this information among American politicians, because they were afraid that Trump would cover everything up once he was in power.
Feb 17 '17 08:22
There is no evidence that there are still human remains on the site where flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Minister Stef Blok of Security and Justice said on Thursday. His Ministry studies all photos and statements made by Dutch journalist Michel Spekkers, who brought back a piece of bone and other items found at the crash site in January. The bone fragment belonged to one of the MH17 victims.
Feb 6 '17 17:05
An Amsterdam artist's sculpture for the academic hospital in Leiden has become an internet sensation in Russia. It seems that the monster statue - a gray blob with the head of a sea elephant waiting for a seat with its hands patiently folded - perfectly embodies the Russian 'waiting' culture, a leftover from the communist era during which almost all goods had to be waited for, Het Parool reports.
Feb 3 '17 09:07
Dutch intelligence service AIVD is very concerned about increasing cyber attacks on the Netherlands by countriees like Russia, China and Iran, AIVD director Rob Bertholee said in an interview with EenVandaag. He calls these attacks a threat to democracy.
Over the past six months the Netherlands fought off hundreds of hacking attempts, Bertholee said. Among the targets were secret government documents. And according to the AIVD boss, it is clear that Russia was behind many of the attacks.
Jan 31 '17 14:55
Relatives of MH17 victims are shocked by a letter to American president Donald Trump asking him to start an independent investigation into the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The letter was written by candidate parliamentarian Thierry Baudet and 25 others, the Volkskrant reports. The MH17 survivors say they want no part in these "propaganda theories".
