Dutch Prime Minister Receives Extra Security Amid Assassination Concerns
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Acting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has been given additional security after signals that he may be the target of an attack or kidnapping, officials confirmed Monday.
The Liberal Rutte, one of the longest-serving European leaders who prefer cycling to work, gets additional protection from specially trained police officers from the Royal and Diplomatic Security Service (DKDB) Worthy News monitored.
The threat from what Dutch media called “the cocaine mafia” comes while this seafaring nation is still dealing with the July killing of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.
Earlier in September last year, Dutch lawyer Derk Wiersum was shot and killed near his home in Amsterdam after defending a state witness.
Prime Minister Rutte, 54, initially declined to accept visible protection but eventually listened to advice from security services, officials said.
An ”elite security guard” was visible during a two-day budget debate in Parliament last week, journalists noticed.
The anti-Islam politician, Geert Wilders, expressed his shock about the threats against Rutte. Wilders also receives additional security after death threats. “Terrible. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Good luck, Prime Minister Rutte,” Wilders wrote on social networking site Twitter.
There have been increasingly violent incidents involving drug gangs, including the so-called “mocro (Moroccan) mafia.”
The Dutch police union has warned that the Netherlands is becoming a “narco-state”.
Complicating security efforts is that the DKDB struggles with understaffing as the number of threats increased, according to sources familiar with the situation.
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