Netherlands

The story is, on paper, narrow. Solvinity, the Dutch contractor that operates infrastructure underneath Logius and DigiD, looks set to be acquired by Kyndryl, an American spin-off of IBM’s managed-services arm. DigiD itself remains owned by the Dutch state via Logius, so technically the system is still Dutch. Politically and operationally, the distinction does not calm many people down. A rented engine room is still part of the ship. Across Europe there has been a push for “digital sovereignty”, meaning less dependency on American hyperscalers and infrastructure providers after years of quietly outsourcing half the state to Silicon Valley with the serene confidence of a man juggling chainsaws because the first three catches worked out fine. ...

How a piece of paper can become a parliamentary scandal? Step one: NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem based research institute, publishes a report. The report alleges that Hamas has infiltrated Dutch aid organisations operating in Gaza. The evidence is thin. One example involves a wastewater treatment project that also irrigated fruit trees. NGO Monitor suggested those fruit trees could well be used by fighters to hide behind. Apparently the dappled shade was the threat. ...

In the spring of 2021, Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD) researcher Wietse Boonstra quietly uncovered seven critical flaws in Kaseya’s widely used IT management software. DIVD warned the company within days, flagging more than 2,200 vulnerable systems across the globe. Weeks later, three flaws remained unpatched, and the REvil ransomware gang pounced. Overnight, some 1,500 organisations were paralysed, from supermarkets in Sweden to schools in New Zealand. This was not an isolated close call. In a 2023 study with the University of Twente, DIVD found that less than half of Dutch municipalities acted promptly when notified of exploitable flaws in their email systems. In some cases, local authorities ignored the warnings entirely. ...

In De onvoltooide rechtsstaat (The Unfinished Rule of Law), published on 4 June 2025 to mark his retirement from the Dutch Supreme Court, Ybo Buruma offers a sweeping yet pointed dissection of the Netherlands’ legal journey, and its current disintegration. Part historical reflection, part polemic, the book contends that the Dutch rule of law, once a source of pride, is now under threat from populism, political short-termism, and the perilous belief that majority rule is justice enough. ...