Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned Dutch Ambassador Gilles Beschoor Plug to protest the attempt by British Intelligence to «recruit» its military attaché at the Embassy in The Hague earlier this month.
In a statement, Moscow has urged Amsterdam to «refrain from such hostile actions» as they «lead to further degradation of bilateral relations,» while insisting on avoiding «similar incidents in the future,» even if they are «representatives of countries it calls its allies.»
«The Dutch authorities and law enforcement agencies not only fail to stop such illegal actions, but they themselves participate in them. In April this year, Dutch intelligence officers attempted to recruit three Russian diplomats who had previously been declared ‘persona non grata,'» the Russian Foreign Ministry has described.
It has also specified that in July 2020, during a regular technical inspection, a tracking equipment was discovered in the car of a diplomat of the Embassy in The Hague. Russia stresses that, in addition, such actions «are accompanied by provocative stories and campaigns in the media».
«In December 2018, CIA representatives approached (with the aim of recruiting) a diplomat of the permanent mission of Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and in December 2019 persuaded the attaché of the Russian Embassy in the closed area of Schiphol airport in Amsterdam to cooperate,» it has stressed.
