ZOETERMEER, the Netherlands, April 23 (Reuters) – The Netherlands is facing the greatest threat to its national security since the end of World War Two, chiefly from Russia and China, against the backdrop of a much more “unpredictable” world order, Dutch intelligence agency AIVD said on Thursday.
“In the 80 years of our existence, we have not seen a threat level like the current one, where national security has been put under pressure from so many sides at once, for such a long time,” AIVD director Simone Smit said at the presentation of the agency’s annual report.
“We see an unstable and unpredictable world order, after decades where stability and predictability were the foundation of prosperity and peace.”
As in past years, the AIVD stressed the threats to the Netherlands, a founder member of both NATO and the European Union, emanating from Russia and China.
It said Russia had become even more aggressive against Western countries including the Netherlands, mainly through cyber attacks.
“Russia is preparing for a long confrontation with the West,” the AIVD said. “As a consequence, a military conflict between Russia and the West is no longer unthinkable.”
Russia denies any plan to attack NATO countries but accuses what it calls the “collective West” of threatening its own national security, especially through its financial and military support for Ukraine.
The AIVD said China was continuing “illegal” efforts to acquire advanced technological expertise in its push “to reshape the world order .. to better serve its own interests”.
The AIVD has long labeled China as the largest threat to Dutch economic security, and said that threat had deepened in 2025.
China denies acting illegally in pursuit of its economic interests or posing any threat to Western countries.
Domestically, jihadist and far-right groups pose the main security threat in the Netherlands, with both groups gaining a worrying popularity among some young people, the agency said.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer)
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