Suspicions of corruption to NATO military purchases

The Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, said on Thursday that the Alliance wants to reach the root of an alleged corruption case involving the military procurement agency of the transatlantic organization, based in Luxembourg, which has led to police actions in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and the United States.

Specifically, it is the NATO Agency for Support and Procurement that is based in Luxembourg and whose responsibilities include the purchase, operation and maintenance of armament systems, fuel supply, port services, airport logistics, air transport and medical and catering services.

‘We want to reach the root of this problem. Being NATO, we do not accept any form of any violation of judicial principles, but obviously I cannot say more about this because it is now in the hands of the judicial authorities, « Rutte said on arrival at the informal meeting of Foreign Ministers in NATO member states, hosted by the Turkish city of Antalya.

The Secretary General of NATO said that the agency is the one who initiated the investigation into the alleged corruption case and collaborates ‘very closely with all the relevant authorities’.

« We cooperate fully, we initiated it (the investigation) and we will take the next steps together, » he said.

The Luxembourg Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement on Wednesday, stating that, in an operation to solve an case that involves current and former officials of the Agency, suspect they would have used their personal functions, the police carried out several searches in Luxembourg.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, these searches led to the confiscation of documents.

« The Belgian, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and American authorities performed simultaneous operations that led to the arrest of some suspects, » the statement said.

The Luxembourg judicial authorities wanted to clarify that they are grateful to the Agency for Support and Procurement for ‘its essential role in initiating this case and for the continuous and sustained assistance granted for the continuation of the investigation’.