this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
119 points (100.0% liked)

Europe

6642 readers
990 users here now

News and information from Europe 🇪🇺

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
  10. Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.

(This list may get expanded as necessary.)

Posts that link to the following sources will be removed

Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media. Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com

(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)

Ban lengths, etc.

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Archived

A court in the Netherlands has sentenced a Russian national to three years in prison for violating EU sanctions by transferring sensitive semiconductor technology to Russian intelligence.

German Aksenov, 43, had worked as an engineer in the Dutch semiconductor industry from 2015-2024, including for ASML, a leading manufacturer of microchip equipment, and NXP Semiconductors, a supplier of semiconductor components.

Prosecutors said Aksenov downloaded files containing technical specifications for microchip production from ASML and NXP servers onto a USB drive and external hard disk, which he was expected to hand over to an agent of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in Moscow, Bloomberg reported.

According to the court, the information he transferred “can contribute to strengthening [Russia's] military and strategic capabilities. That has consequences for Ukraine and indirectly for international security and stability.”

[...]

top 5 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] L0rdMathias@sh.itjust.works 23 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Woah, wait, what? The Dutch only give you 3 years for espionage? Holy shit lmao.

[–] SebaDC@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 2 days ago

Yeah. The guy probably got money from someone, will patiently wait 3y without being sent to the front. It's a joke.

It's actually promoting espionage and treason.

[–] oneser@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not to defend the decision, but I wonder if the prosecution couldn't use any sort of "treason" charge, as the act is not against the Dutch people directly?

[–] huppakee@feddit.nl 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Could be, but i believe corporate espionage is gets you a lower sentence. But also happens often when they catch a spy they just throw them out without a court case and sentence or if it's a hostile nation they do sentence them but then try to make a deal or a swap or something so that spy still doesn't get punished.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 2 points 2 days ago

I don't know how the Dutch see it, but I'm pretty sure that the US considers extreme ultraviolet lithography to be a technology with strategic importance. That is, it's more than some company's sales at stake.