National security interests have not been harmed by secret United States military intelligence about Ukraine leaked online. “We as the Netherlands don’t have to take the consequences of what has come out now,” said Jan Swillens, director of the military intelligence service MIVD.
Confidence in the United States has taken a “sizeable dent” because of the leak, Swillens said on TV program Buitenhof. The US is an important partner for the Netherlands ‘and we often receive very valuable information from the US’.
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In mid-April, a 21-year-old American was arrested in an investigation into leaking state secrets. Swillens agreed that the FBI had given it “priority one” to look into the leak.
Own procedure
After the leak, MIVD researched its own procedures, personnel screening and information security.
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This is not the first and not the last time classified information will be leaked, the MIVD director knows. “You know you can never give a 100 percent guarantee.”
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