The base, near Cologne-Bonn Airport, employs 4,300 soldiers and 1,200 civilians, and also has a fleet of military aircraft used by Chancellor Olaf Scholz for international travel.
According to news portal Der Spiegel, authorities told base workers not to drink tap water because they believed it was contaminated. They also found a damaged fence on the edge of the area.
Police, military police and the military intelligence agency MAD are investigating the alleged crime, Spiegel said. The area was cordoned off by police officers, and the barracks were isolated.
“We have reasons for taking these steps and we take this case seriously,” Reuters quoted a spokesman for Berlin’s territorial command as saying.
Following the incident in Cologne, the security level at the NATO air base in Geilenkirchen, which is also in the same region as Cologne, has been increased.
“The base (in Geilenkirchen – ed. post) was never closed. We have checked the water, it is fine and the base is accessible,” Reuters quoted a NATO representative in Geilenkirchen as saying later on Wednesday. Earlier, a German military spokesman said the base in Geilenkirchen had been closed.
It was not immediately possible to confirm who carried out the sabotage, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently warned that Russian intelligence is increasingly conducting operations against members of the alliance.
Poland, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic have reported similar incidents in recent months.
The German page “Deutsche Welle” inf.
2024-08-15 10:15:42