Former AIVD chief nominated for Dutch premiership
Dick Schoof as AIVD director-general in 2018 (AIVD, CC1.0).
The Netherlands’ AIVD intelligence agency hit the headlines last week when its former chief, Dick Schoof, was nominated as Prime Minister by the formateur managing the country’s coalition negotiations.1
Schoof is expected to lead a government dominated by Geert Wilders’ far-right Party For Freedom (PVV). Ben Coates, a British columnist for Rotterdam’s Algemeen Dagblad, told The Times: ‘Wilders spent 25 years railing against the Hague elite and the malevolent deep state and then when he finally got the chance to pick a PM he went for … the country’s former spy chief and top security official.’2
One of Wilders’ rivals on the far-right, Thierry Baudet of Forum for Democracy (FvD) complained 'The Netherlands has voted for Geert Wilders and what we get is a former Labor Party civil servant who has been spying on us for years.’3
Not everyone sees a contradiction. Civil liberties group Bits of Freedom has questioned Schoof’s claim that he would be a Prime Minister for all Dutch people, based on his record at the AIVD and as National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV).4 In the latter post, Schoof was reportedly aware that funding provided by Dutch municipalities for private investigators working covertly in mosques and Islamic groups was at ‘serious risk of illegality.’5
Schoof’s putative coalition, which brings together Wilders’ PVV and the centre-right VVD among others, is indicative of wider European trends. A similar dynamic between the centre and far right is at play in the rapprochement between European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of this week’s European Parliament elections.6
Koen Verhelst and Eva Hartog, Geert Wilders eyes former spy chief Dick Schoof as Dutch prime minister, Politico.eu, 1 28 May 2024.
Bruno Waterfield, Meet ‘smiling killer’ former spy chief turned Dutch prime minister, The Times, 29 May 2024.
Eline Schaart and Eva Hartog, Who is Dick Schoof? 8 things to know about the new Dutch PM, Politico.eu, 1 June 2024.
Evelyn Austin, Dick Schoof: een premier voor alle Nederlanders? Bits of Freedom, 28 May 2024.
Counterterrorism boss hid concerns about covert investigations into Islamic groups, NL Times, 20 December 2022.
John Henley, Giorgia Meloni has emerged as a kingmaker for the EU – but will she turn to centre right or far right? The Guardian, 2 June 2024.