Dutch journalist gatecrashes EU defence video conference - BBC News
Daniel Verlaan joined the meeting after the Dutch defence minister posted login details on Twitter.
The tech reporter accessed the meeting using login details tweeted by the Dutch defence minister

Daniel Verlaan of RTL Nieuws joined the meeting after the Dutch defence minister accidentally posted some of the login details on Twitter.

The visibly surprised technology reporter started waving once he realised he'd been let in.

"You know that you have been jumping into a secret conference?" EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry. I'm a journalist from the Netherlands. I'm sorry for interrupting your conference," Mr Verlaan replied, to laughter from officials. "I'll be leaving here."

"You know it's a criminal offence, huh?" Mr Borrell replied. "You'd better sign off quickly before the police arrives."

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Michiel van Hulten This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Mr Verlaan managed to access the meeting after Dutch Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld tweeted a photo that contained the login address and part of the PIN code.

"After a number of attempts, RTL Nieuws succeeded in guessing the PIN code of the secret consultation, because five of the six digits of the pin code were visible in the photo," the news outlet said.

While many have seen the funny side of the hack, it raises serious questions over the security of confidential EU meetings.

The meeting was ended due to the breach, while a Foreign Affairs Council spokesman told RTL: "Such a breach is illegal and will be reported to the authorities."

A Dutch defence ministry spokesperson said tweeting the login details had been a "stupid mistake".

"This shows how careful you should be careful when sending a picture of a meeting," they added.