BRUSSELS — Belgian authorities arrested a Canadian woman on Friday on suspicion of espionage while she was serving as an intern at the operational headquarters of the NATO military alliance, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced Saturday.
The investigation was launched after NATO’s internal security services alerted Belgium’s military intelligence agency. The suspect, identified as a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin, was detained one day after investigators searched her residence and her workplace inside the alliance’s sprawling command center in Mons, known as Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).
“She is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organization,” prosecutors stated.
SHAPE, located near the French border in southern Belgium, serves as the strategic military headquarters where allied officials plan and command joint operations and strategy. While NATO’s political headquarters sits in Brussels, the alliance’s Cyber Security Centre is based at SHAPE.
Both Canada and Belgium are members of the 32-nation alliance, which in 2021 formally designated China a “security challenge” alongside active threats from Russia and the Middle East. NATO leaders have accused Beijing of working to undermine the global order, expanding its military without transparency, and conducting destabilizing disinformation campaigns, asserting that China’s “assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to alliance security.” The Chinese government has rejected those characterizations, describing its military buildup as defensive in nature.
The arrest comes at a sensitive moment for the alliance as it navigates sharp criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has reduced the American security footprint in Europe. Trump has pressed allies to increase defense spending and participate in potential conflicts involving Iran, while also threatening to seize Greenland — an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark — by force, a stance that has unsettled European capitals and alliance unity.
Under pressure from the Trump administration last year, the 32 NATO members agreed to target defense investment of 5% of gross domestic product, comprising 3.5% for core capabilities such as aircraft and missiles and 1.5% for infrastructure, including transportation networks, ports, and cybersecurity.