The Dutch ministry of security and justice cancelled the post as liaison officer at the embassy in Brussels last summer. This reported NOS, the Dutch broadcasting company, on its website yesterday (30 March).
The person was responsible for transmitting information in judicial matters between the Netherlands and Belgium. According to the Dutch ministry the decision to cancel the function was taken because the contacts between the two countries anyway worked smoothly.
At about the same time a Dutch liaison officer took office in London, while The Hague was preparing to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union, because of “the important role that UK plays in EU”.
According to the spokesperson of the Dutch ministry it happens quite often that the post as intelligence liaison officer is not required any longer because of developments in international policy.
The opposition parties in the Netherlands want to know if it is correct that other European countries increased their capacity for similar positions in Belgium during the same period.
The disclosure of the Dutch decision comes at a moment when it is still not clear why no alert was raised when a suspected jihadist, who was one of the suicide bombers in the terror attacks in Brussels, was returned from Turkey via Schiphol Airport.
The Brussels Times (Source: Belga)
