NATO airbase in Germany increases security level due to ‘potential threat’

Berlin — NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen in Germany has raised its security level “based on intelligence information indicating a potential threat,” it said Thursday night. “All non-mission-critical personnel have been sent home as a precautionary measure,” the base said in a statement on the social media platform X, without providing details. “The safety of our personnel is our top priority. Operations continue as planned.” A spokesperson for the Geilenkirchen base said the threat level had been raised to Charlie, the second-highest of four alert levels, which is defined as “an incident (that) has occurred or intelligence has been received indicating that some form of terrorist action against NATO organizations or personnel is highly likely.” It was the second time the base home to NATO’s fleet of AWACS surveillance aircraft had raised its security level after an incident last week, when a military base near Cologne was temporarily closed while authorities investigated possible sabotage of the water supply. The same day, the Geilenkirchen base also reported an attempted intrusion that prompted a full search of the premises. As for the alleged sabotage at the Cologne base, the German military later gave the all-clear, saying test results showed the tap water was not contaminated. NATO has previously warned of a campaign of hostile activity by Russia, including sabotage and cyberattacks. Russia has regularly accused NATO of threatening its security. In June, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance was seeing a shift in trends and that the recent attacks were the result of increased activity by Russian intelligence services. Several incidents on NATO territory have been viewed as suspicious by analysts in recent years, including the severing of a vital undersea cable linking Svalbard to mainland Norway in 2022.