AFP
News from the NOS•
Dutch high-tech companies unwittingly sell their technology to companies founded by the Russian military intelligence service. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense after the statements on the subject by Jan Swillens, head of the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD). He warns in the FD that the Dutch high-tech sector is unknowingly providing building blocks for the war machine in Ukraine in this way.
According to Swillens, Russian intelligence has created dozens of companies operating in the Netherlands as “front companies” to evade Western sanctions. Those companies buy technology here and then smuggle it to Russia for military purposes, she says.
According to the director of the MIVD, this type of practice has occurred since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. “But with the war in Ukraine it is on the rise,” he says in the FD. Swillens invites Dutch high-tech companies to conduct more in-depth research on their customers and inquire about the actual end users of their products.
Own responsibility
The MIVD informed Defense Minister Ollongren a few months ago about the smuggling routes, according to Swillens in the paper. He says he is now making them public to make companies aware of the risks.
The defense ministry states in a response that Mivd itself has no powers to stop attempts to circumvent sanctions. If the military intelligence service suspects that a company is doing business indirectly with Russia, it may involve other organizations, such as customs or ministries of economy and foreign affairs. They can then act together with the high-tech companies in question.
The defense stresses that Dutch companies and entrepreneurs also have a responsibility. They can report suspicions of Russian smuggling attempts, for example, to the so-called Sanction Desk Russia of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
‘Great naivety’
The Dutch high-tech sector can be counted among the international leaders, with big names like NXP and ASML. According to the FD, the products are mainly exported with both civil and military applications. In addition to microchips, this also applies to vehicle parts, communications equipment and maritime technology. The Netherlands has a multi-billion dollar industry in these areas, writes the newspaper, including Akzo and VDL.
MIVD head Swillens does not say in the FD which companies are involved in the agreements with Russian affiliates.
Experts point out in the newspaper that Russian interest in Dutch manufacturing technology should not be underestimated. According to security consultant Danny Pronk, who previously worked for the MIVD and AIVD, the Dutch advanced infrared and sensor technology is of interest to the Kremlin, among other things. It is used for command and control of ships, he says. The Dutch branch of the French high-tech company Thales is active in this field.
Ben de Jong, researcher from the intelligence services of the University of Leiden, speaks in the FD of “great naivety” of the Netherlands. “Many people do not understand that the Russians would like to spy here. He also remembers that as a NATO country we have a lot of knowledge of the Americans and other allies.”
Russian spies
At the end of March, the Netherlands expelled seventeen Russian diplomats because they turned out to be active here as spies for the Russian secret services. Recently, the research of, among others, the NOS e news hour see spies engaged in secret message encryption, counterintelligence, and information gathering on computer chips for the Russian military.
