Citing what they called Donald Trump’s “increasingly autocratic course,” Dutch intelligence services said in mid October that the NATO-partner agencies would cut down on intel shared with American partners. English-language publication DutchNews.nl reported that it’s the first time in decades such a change has occurred.
The Dutch intelligence services are sharing less information with the United States and working more closely with European partners, AIVD director Erik Akerboom and MIVD director Peter Reesink have told the Volkskrant in a joint interview. Their caution towards Washington is linked to what they describe as the increasingly autocratic course of president Donald Trump, who has dismissed senior officials for lacking loyalty and used lawsuits to pressure journalists, judges and universities. The directors said this is the first time developments in the US are directly shaping Dutch intelligence ties, marking a break with decades of close cooperation with the CIA and NSA.
via DutchNews.nl
The unbylined article goes on to note that Dutch intel has increased its sharing with European counterparts as a result.
At the same time, cooperation within Europe has increased. Akerboom said a leading group of northern European intelligence services—including the Netherlands, Britain, Germany, the Scandinavian services, France and Poland—now exchange more information, including raw data, driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine. The directors also warned that Russia is behind dozens of successful hacks in the Netherlands every year, ‘in areas where it causes real disruption,’ while China is becoming an even greater digital threat.
via DutchNews.nl
A separate piece by Antonia Langford in Kyiv Post calls the move a “rare admission of concern” by Dutch officials, and cites Trump’s frequent deference to Russia and Putin as the reasoning behind the shift.
The Netherlands has become more cautious about sharing intelligence with the US over fears it could be ‘politicized’ or used to help Russia, according to the heads of Dutch civilian and military intelligence.
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Akerboom and Reesink indicated in the comments published on Saturday that sharing intelligence about Russia with the US may be dealt with on a case-by-case basis in future as a more wary climate takes hold in Donald Trump’s second term.
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It was a rare admission of concern among European allies about Trump’s attitude towards intelligence, as well as the mercurial leader’s frequent pivots on Russia. Reesnik told de Volkskrant that it was a source of ‘great sadness’ when Trump fired National Security Agency chief Timothy Haugh in April. ‘We knew the man well,’ he said.
via Antonia Langford, Kyiv Post
Tulsi Gabbard, often cited by analysts and pundits as “friendly” to Putin’s regime, gutted the U.S. intelligence workforce in August and installed a conspiracy theorist as chair of National Intelligence Council. Intelligence and the sharing of crucial data has been used repeatedly by Trump and associates as political weapon, particularly when they revoked sharing with Ukraine in early March.
