The Ministry of Asylum and Migration of the Netherlands has imposed a 20-year entry ban on an ex-ASML employee. A Russia-connected individual is currently under investigation, suspected of potential espionage and theft of vital microchip documents from ASML, reports Dutch outlet NOS. Per the report from local media, the Netherlands rarely imposes such prohibitions, and they are typically reserved for cases involving national security.
ASML is one of the world's leading tech companies - making bleeding-edge high-NA EUV photolithography machines employed in the fabrication units of Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. This one Dutch firm holds the key to entering the sub-5nm era and recent US legislation has been detrimental for sanctioned companies like SMIC in China. Russia, being on the sanctioned list of countries following a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is also hamstrung by sanctions.
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