Moscow outraged after bug found in Russian military attache car in The Hague, summons Dutch Charge d'Affaires

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed its outrage after tracking equipment was found in a Russian military attache car in The Hague, the home of the Dutch government and the International Court of Justice.

Dominique Kuhling-Bakker, the Dutch Charge d'Affaires in Moscow, was summoned to the ministry in Russia's capital.

“The Russian Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest to the Ambassador of the Netherlands, in connection with the discovery of tracking equipment in the car of the Russian military attache in The Hague,” the Russian diplomatic agency said. “The Dutch diplomat was informed that it is immediately necessary to take comprehensive measures to prevent such incidents, which are counter to the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

The relationship between the Netherlands and Russia has been particularly frosty since July 2014, when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Donetsk, Ukraine. The investigation into the incident is being conducted by a Dutch-led joint investigation team, which alleges that the Boeing 777 aircraft was shot down by rebels with a Russian Buk surface-to-air missile. Moscow denies any involvement. In July 2020, in connection with the downed plane, the Netherlands filed a lawsuit in the European Court of Human Rights against Russia.

In 2018, the Netherlands expelled two Russian diplomats over the alleged Russian involvement in the poisoning of former GRU and MI6 agent Sergei Skripal. Moscow responded in the same manner, sending two Dutch representatives back to The Hague.

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