The question is whether coincidence exists. At Europol's security check, they leave as little as possible to chance in any case. Scanners, serious faces. On to the most heavily secured wing of the building on Eisenhowerlaan. There, Catherine De Bolle, the 54-year-old head of Europol, awaits us in an elegant, tailored light purple suit.

She is smiling, has bright eyes and a soft Flemish accent. She owes her career to a fortunate turn of events. When she wanted to join the police in the 1990s, she was actually too short, but then the minimum height was suddenly adjusted. That allowed her, at 1.63 metres, to join the Gendarmerie after all. It formed the prelude to an international life full of contrasts. At weekends, she enjoys nature and her family in the Flemish city of Ninove. During the week, she battles human traffickers, child abusers, drug barons and terrorists from her office in The Hague.

Coming from a Flemish village, how do you land Europol's highest position?

"My democratic idealism originated in the 1980s when the Gang of Nijvel, also known as the Brabant Killers, went around indiscriminately shooting people in supermarkets in Belgium. In 1985, the group killed eight people in Aalst, not far from Ninove. The police carried out investigations in my village too, and I was struck by the immense solidarity between the citizens and the police – everyone was trying to put an end to the sheer madness of the Brabant Killers."

"I always admired officers who want to protect society. I studied law, but quickly realised the legal profession was not for me. I became chief of police in my home town. There, I was confronted with roving groups of offenders. You can't solve that locally. So, I started tackling it at federal level. But it soon became clear that even that was not enough.

Ripe

I had to work at European level and felt the time was ripe. After the 2016 attacks, there was more readiness to collaborate internationally. In 2018, I applied for the leadership of Europol and there was confidence in me."

Europol celebrates its 25th anniversary. Has Europe become less safe over the past decade? 

"We have mainly become more aware of security threats because we have a better view of them. In any case, criminal networks have become more violent, internally and against their rivals. They used to want to stay under the radar, now they don't care. You see techniques have blown over from Latin America."

"Corruption is an underestimated problem, at the port and among officials. Eighty per cent of criminal networks use legal business structures for money laundering or to organise their activities. For example with human trafficking. Business leaders are sometimes aware of what’s going on, but that is far from always the case. Truck drivers are then unaware they are transporting people."

Being Flemish, how do you see The Hague? 

"As a very international city. That’s extremely palpable at Europol, 53 countries have permanent representatives here. It's a wonderful environment. Every day you see the world. You can talk to people from Japan, Colombia, Hungary, France, Dubai or the United States. Collaboration is evident: all you have to do is to open a door to see if you can build a case together."

Europol's headquarters at 73 Eisenhower Avenue.

Social cohesion

"You have everything in The HaguePublic transport is good. Shops are open late, there is a lot of culture, the beach. The Hague is not too big, is a people-sized city. There is social cohesion. Where I live, there are mostly elderly people, and they all look after each other. It’s lovely to see. It's a pleasant city, also in terms of food: Indonesian, Chinese. And being Flemish, I have to admit that Dutch cuisine is better than expected. I like to eat the traditional pea soup in winter, fish in summer, herring is delicious. The Dutch often have a certain disdain for their own cuisine – unjustified, I find."

Emotionally, what is the most difficult part of your job? 

"The atrocity of what humans do to humans. My first shock as chief of police in Ninove came after a neighbour’s call. We entered a house and there were children lying on a mattress in their own excrement. Everything in the fridge was mouldy, including the milk."

Terrorism

"After the September 11 attacks, the security environment changed significantly. We faced new forms of violence, such as the actions of ISIS and the infamous videos of men in orange overalls. Terrorism brought about a fundamental shift. Whereas we used to deploy special units, which commanded respect even from criminals, we now saw that terrorists were often willing to die for their cause. Their own lives were sometimes the means to an end."

And then there is organised crime. 

"It is horrifying how amicably they interact with each other while ordering murders via an app. Those 'guns for hire' often torture their victims as well, just think of those barbaric torture chambers. And then they send a video to the boss. That this is happening on a prosperous continent, where human rights and the freedom of the individual are paramount, boggles my mind."

What are the biggest challenges for Europol?  

"Currently, the government is unable to guarantee a digitally safe space. Police and judiciary work well together, yet privacy laws can prevent us from accessing criminal communication channels. Social networks are also responsible for security. Europol wants more communication with big tech companies. A regulatory framework is always needed. Cybersecurity standards were invented by big tech – however, they act based on considerations other than social interest."

Wild West

"With the rise of the internet, we learnt that innovation moves fast, regulation is always playing catch up. Platforms and new technologies must be held to societal norms and ethical standards. They should not be a sanctuary where the government has no say. Otherwise, you get the Wild West."

Don't we already live in that?  

"In some ways, yes, unfortunately. The leaders of criminal networks, people who are already under justice’s microscope, often hide out in places where they feel safe, such as Dubai. They try to win over young people to their activities. These pose an additional danger, not only to themselves. They are unpredictable, less precise, make more mistakes when committing murders. On European soil, we see this appearing sporadically . If you change laws, they set their sights on even younger recruits. Entire families depend on the earnings of young criminals. If you get 3,000 euros to be a lookout for a drug dealer, you don't go to school. We need to get them on the radar earlier and should pay particular attention to children who suddenly stop going to school."

What gives you hope? 

"The will to work together. Also outside Europe, for example in the US. I have political support from the European Commission and Von der Leyen. She wants to double Europol's workforce in the long run. Internal security is a basic right. We also benefit greatly from the work of investigative journalists, who can often work with fewer restraints. Their work can be a link in our investigations. In addition, I believe in the power of citizens. We appeal to them to solve some cases. We are running the 'Trace an Object' campaign. We have a website where we ask if they can identify elements isolated from images of child abuse, for example a T-shirt, an electrical socket, a hotel room. That's how we sometimes solve cases when we’ve exhausted all other investigative options."

Crisis

"At the same time, I think we need to better inform citizens about what we do, how we do it and why. Young people have little faith in the government. A story is needed: storytelling. We need to explain better that criminals abuse the economic system and sabotage trust in society and government. We need to communicate our results more: about the criminals we catch. That we keep money out of the illegal circuit. In practice, we are always working on the next mission. Going public is not in the police’s DNA. We usually work from crisis to crisis, we have little time to explain what we’ve just done. We also struggle with professional secrecy. And facts have to be determined by the court first. Communicating our results remains a complex balancing act. But it is a necessity."

What is an example of such a success story? 

"We recently rolled up a criminal communication network called 'Ghost'. About 1,000 criminals used it to send each other messages every day. They used special phones and triple encryption. When we cracked the encryption, we were able to read over their shoulders, enabling us to foil 40 murders. The arrests involved teams from nine different countries working together across all continents. We seized weapons, drugs and over a million in cash. That is the reason Europol exists. Citizens need to feel they can trust the government. Only then will people want to be part of society, strengthening that delicate fabric together. Despite everything, I am optimistic."