In the coming years, counterterrorism in the Netherlands will focus on extremism from the extreme right. This is stated in the National Counterterrorism Strategy that Minister Dilan Yesilgöz (Justice and Security) sent to the House of Representatives on Friday. There will also be more attention for loners with extremist views, “often in combination with extreme anti-government sentiments and conspiracy ideas”.
The previous strategy of the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) of the Ministry of Justice and Security dates from 2016. “That was a different period,” says Yesilgöz.
At that time, there was still a lot going on around the developments of the Islamic State terrorist organization and its aftermath. But online and on the dark web it is now apparent that loners pose a real threat, according to Yesilgöz. Over the next four years, more attention will be paid to this, both online and “on the street”.
The annual report of the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) for 2021 already showed that right-wing extremism and anti-government protests have become a bigger security problem.
According to the AIVD, all kinds of right-wing extremist movements share a world view “in which the white population of (including) the Netherlands is structurally disadvantaged, and is even threatened in its survival by ‘repopulation’ or genocide”.
These ideas have been further fueled by the corona measures and conspiracy theories. They are also often accompanied by anti-Semitism. According to the intelligence service, it is now conceivable that right-wing extremists will commit a terrorist attack.
The threat from the jihadist quarter has not disappeared
The strategy does point out that the threat from the jihadist angle has not yet completely disappeared.
For example, several convicted terrorists who were detained in special terrorism units will be released in the coming years. According to the minister, “extra attention should be paid to safe and controlled reintegration after detention”.
Although the NCTV currently has no concrete indications of an attack, the risk is still “significant”. That is level three on the five-point scale that the counter-terrorist maintains.
Yesilgöz also wants terrorists to be detained longer. Now the maximum prison sentence for participating in a terrorist organization is 15 years. As far as Yesilgöz is concerned, that may go to twenty years.
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