Dutch intelligence agency AIVD claims the Netherlands is facing the greatest national security threat its seen since World War Two, predominantly citing threats from Russia and China, Reuters reports. 

AVID asserts Russia has grown more offensive in cyberattacks against the Netherlands and other Western countries. “Russia is preparing for a long confrontation with ‌the ⁠West,” the agency states. “As a consequence, a military conflict between Russia and the West is no longer unthinkable.” 

Russia denies intentions to attack NATO countries, but argues that the “collective West” threatens its own national security, particularly through supporting Ukraine. 

Reports of potential heightened cyber activity targeting Western countries coincides with the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). This cut would remove $707 million from CISA’s funding. 

“In the 80 years of our existence, we have not seen a threat level like the current one, where national security has been put under pressure from so many sides at once, for such a long time,” commented AIVD director Simone Smit. “We see an unstable and unpredictable world order, after decades where stability and predictability were the foundation of prosperity and peace.”