New Dutch leader bans phones in Cabinet meetings to dial back espionage threat

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The new Dutch prime minister has banned cell phones and other mobile devices from the weekly meetings of his Cabinet in a move aimed at dialing back the risk of digital eavesdropping by spies.

“The threat of espionage is timeless. Electronic devices, a telephone, iPad, are all little microphones and countries are interested in decision-making also in the Netherlands and you want to prevent that. It's a very simple measure — all the phones in a safe,” Dick Schoof, a former head of the national intelligence agency, told reporters Friday.

Phones were not banned under Schoof's predecessor, Mark Rutte, who left Dutch politics after a general election in November that was won by the radical right Party for Freedom led by Geert Wilders.

Schoof, whose technocratic government took office in July, said he was taking a different approach based on his former job in the intelligence community.

“Maybe I have a bit more experience with that sort of thing,” he said. “So for me, that was a completely natural measure. And I found that all members of the cabinet actually agreed immediately.”

Erik Akerboom, the current chief of the General Intelligence and Security Service that Schoof once led, warned last year of espionage including by China targeting the Netherlands and in particular its high-tech sector.

“We see that every day they try to steal that from the Netherlands,” Akerboom told The Associated Press.

Schoof's government is holding a series of meetings to hammer out a detailed policy blueprint that will be unveiled next month.