The Dutch armed forces on Wednesday increased the state of their alert for unspecified threats and possible sabotage at the country’s borders, the Ministry of Defense said, Informs TASR according to AFP report.
The Netherlands has been in a state of emergency labeled alpha from the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from February 2022. But now It goes to the alpha plus level, which is the second lowest in the six -speed emergency system.
The declaration of this new state of emergency is the result of “increased threats” in Europe. Tightened security measures require military staff to monitor suspects and vehicles as well as unmanned aircraft more intensively, the Ministry of Defense said.
The reason for this step is to publish the annual report of the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD). It is stated that Foreign powers are “increasingly prepared to commit sabotages, even near the Dutch borders”.
However, MIVD is not currently seeing a particular threat to a military building. Mivd said in April that Russian hackers focused on public facilities last year’s attack on the Dutch infrastructure. She did not specify what the object was.
Former Dutch Defense Minister Anka Bijleveld warned against the “cyber war” with Russia as early as 2018. She said this after an alleged attempt at a hacker attack on the headquarters of the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague. As a result, four alleged members of the Russian military intelligence GRU were expelled from the Netherlands.
