The threat of a terrorist attack in the Netherlands remains real, justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin and home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst told MPs on Wednesday.

The Netherlands’ presence in Afghanistan and the perceived attacks on Islam in Holland mean that the country is considered a legitimate target by radical Muslim groups, the ministers said in their assessment of the current terror threat.
The official alarm level in the country remains on ‘substantial’, one level below the maximum.
There has never been a terrorist attack on Dutch soil and several alleged plots have turned out to be false alarms.
Last month, seven people were arrested after an anonymous phone call claiming explosives would be planted in a shopping centre in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district. All were released without charge the next day.