THE HAGUE, January 31. /TASS/. The new ruling coalition of the Netherlands, consisting of the left-liberal Democrats 66 party, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian Democrats, said in a 2026-2030 coalition agreement it sees Russia "one of the main sources of threat to the country's national security."
"The most noticeable risk is the increased likelihood of further escalation between Russia and the West," the document says. The document accuses Russia of "hybrid activity, including sabotage, espionage and cyberattacks."
The agreement does not provide any specific evidence or confirmed facts, and the wording is general and evaluative. Russia is mentioned along with abstract "security threats," which allows the Dutch government to link the country's domestic and foreign policy with the need to further build up military and intelligence capabilities under the pretext of "deterrence."
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has repeatedly said that the EU and NATO countries deliberately invent and inflate the myth of a "Russian threat" to distract their population from economic problems. She said the EU economic problems had reached catastrophic proportions caused primarily by the impact of anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the West.
The coalition agreement was issued on January 30. The document as a whole is strongly militaristic in nature and reflects the common course of the EU and NATO to strengthen confrontational rhetoric. It repeatedly mentions the need to expand the powers of the special services, increase military and cyber capabilities, create a pan-European intelligence system and prepare society for "hybrid threats."
Election results and coalition formation
On January 9, NOS reported that Democrats 66, the VVD and the Christian Democratic Appeal party had agreed to form a minority government. The three parties have 66 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, and the future cabinet will have to seek situational support for the opposition to pass each bill.
Early elections to the lower house of the States General (parliament) were held on October 29. They were won by the Democrats 66, who received 26 mandates, and the far-right Party for Freedom, which lost to the left-liberals by the number of votes, won the same number of seats. The VVD took third place with 22 seats, while the Christian Democratic Appeal won 18 seats. The vote was officially approved by the Dutch Electoral Council on November 7.