The NATO air base in the German city of Geilenkirchen raised its security level “based on intelligence indicating a possible threat”, its officials announced on Thursday evening.
“As a precaution, all essential but non-mission personnel have left the base“, said the announcement published on the social media platform X, but without giving more details.
“Personnel safety is our top priority. Operations continue as planned“, the statement added.
A spokesman for the NATO base in Geilenkirchen said he had no more information than what was published in the post.
It is the second time the base that hosts NATO's fleet of AWACS surveillance aircraft has increased security, following an incident last week when a nearby Cologne military base was temporarily closed while authorities were investigating suspicions of possible sabotage in its water supply.
On the same day, the base in Geilenkirchen also announced an incident, an attempt to enter its territory, which prompted the complete evacuation of the premises.
Regarding the suspected sabotage at the Cologne base, the German military later said that tests carried out showed that the water was not contaminated.
NATO has warned in the past about a campaign of malicious activities organized by Russia, including acts of sabotage and cyber attacks. Russia has regularly accused NATO of threatening its security.
In June, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the latest attacks were the result of increasingly active Russian intelligence.
Several incidents in recent years on NATO territory have been treated as suspicious by experts, among them the cutting in 2022 of a vital underwater cable that connected the Svalbard archipelago to Norway.
