A senior French military officer stationed at NATO’s base in Naples, Italy, has been arrested, The French defence minister confirmed publicly today. The officer is suspected of passing sensitive NATO military information to Russia. The French judiciary has filed a case but has refused to make any public announcements.
French Defense Minister Parry today gave a candid interview on Europe 1, answering reporters’ questions and confirming that one of the judges’ senior officers had been arrested. The officer was stationed at NATO’s Base in Naples, Italy, which employs a significant number of French soldiers.
According to the French defense minister, the officer was returning to his Base in Italy after returning from his home leave and was arrested at the airport and is currently in judicial custody.
The officer is suspected of handing over sensitive NATO documents to Russian intelligence on several occasions, it has been revealed.
The officer’s name, rank, expertise and details of the case, including the type of classified documents, were not disclosed.
The French defense minister said she confirmed that an army officer had been arrested by the judiciary, which would then investigate the case and finalize the conviction. The French Defence Minister affirmed that the officer had committed treason by endangering security by providing confidential information to a third country.
The French justice ministry declined to confirm the request.
The case comes at a delicate time. French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier declared NATO brain-dead and urged the EU to have an independent defence force. And US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut NATO forces’ share of military spending because of the apportionment of military spending. France and Greece have strained relations with Turkey, which is also a NATO member.
And France has just sentenced two former counterintelligence agents to prison for spying on China. But according to AGence France-Presse, French treason is rare, with no more than 10 cases in decades. In addition to the two former French agents serving as Chinese spies in July, a French officer betrayed NATO’s bombing campaign against Serbia during the Kosovo war in 2001.
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