Russia is trying to drive EU members apart, but it remains important to keep talking and to work together on selected issues, Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok has told parliament.

In particular, Russia spreads disinformation and is involved in spying, the minister said, referring to a recent attempt to hack the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.

The letter is in response to a unanimous call from MPs for the government to set out its strategy for dealing with Russia.

Het Nederlandse Ruslandbeleid: koersvast en realistisch. Druk uitoefenen als het moet, en selectief samenwerken in het Nederlands belang.

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© ANP Foto pic.twitter.com/AwrIdUOrFG

— Stef Blok (@ministerBlok) December 23, 2019

Describing his policy as ‘realistic’, Blok said the Dutch relationship with Russia had become more complex over the past five years. In addition, Russia’s new ‘assertiveness’ has made the security situation in the European Union less predictable, less stable and less secure, the minister said.

‘If Russia breaches our (security) borders, the Netherlands will act in the appropriate way, as far as possible within an international alliance,’ Blok wrote. ‘At the same time, Russia is an import geo-strategic player on the European continent and it is therefore crucial to keep talking to each other.’