There is no concrete evidence that a terrorist attack is being planned in the Netherlands, justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told parliament late on Thursday.

New information on terrorist threats is expected soon and will probably again point to terror networks along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border which see the Netherlands as ‘a target of choice’, he said.
Hirsch Ballin was reacting to comments made by counter-terrorism chief Tjibbe Joustra in an interview with the Volkskrant on Thursday. In the interview, Joustra said the threat of a terrorist attack was higher than ever and the threat level should be raised to ‘substantial plus’.
The minister said Joustra was describing how the threat level had moved from ‘limited’ to ‘substantial’, reports the NRC. This second highest level means there is a realistic chance of an attack and that the country is regularly mentioned by serious terrorist networks, said the minister.
Hirsch Ballin said the situation has not changed and Joustra’s comments are not news. He did however think it a good thing that the counter-terrorism chief had brought the subject back into the spotlight so that everyone will stay alert, says the paper.