Intern arrested in Belgium on suspicion of spying inside NATO military headquarters

A Canadian woman was arrested and accused of espionage while working as an intern in the operational headquarters of the NATO military alliance, Belgian authorities said Saturday.

Belgium's Federal Prosecutor's Office said it launched an espionage investigation after being tipped off by NATO's security services. Authorities then detained "a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin" Friday, a day after raiding the suspect's home and workplace inside NATO's vast operational command center.

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"She is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organization," the prosecutors said in a statement.

Both Canada and Belgium are members of the 32-nation military alliance that in 2021 labeled China a " security challenge ″ alongside active threats in Russia and the Middle East.

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The strategic headquarters of the Allied Powers base, known as SHAPE, is located in the southern Belgian city of Mons near the French border. The alliance's political headquarters is in Brussels, where ambassadors from member nations meet to discuss defense spending, drone incursions and cyber threats. Military officials at SHAPE plan and command joint strategy, tactics and operations.