THE HAGUE, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A substantial terrorist threat persists in the Netherlands, the country's principal counterterrorism authority said on Tuesday.

"The likelihood of a terrorist attack in the Netherlands is real; therefore, the threat level remains at 4 (substantial)," the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) stated in its latest semi-annual Terrorist Threat Assessment for the Netherlands report.

Radicalization of local individuals remains a serious cause for concern, the report said, noting that radicalization takes place primarily online -- across open and closed platforms, including social media, gaming platforms, and chat groups.

"Since 2020, terrorist attacks in Europe have almost exclusively been carried out by lone actors," Acting National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security Wieke Vink said.

"Preventing terrorist crimes and detecting early signals that may indicate terrorism or extremism remain the government's highest priority," Minister of Justice and Security Foort van Oosten said in a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives. Enditem