A Belgian security service officer was arrested and indicted for espionage, two people with knowledge of the case told POLITICO.
He was taken into custody on Thursday and his home searched the same day. An investigating judge later released him under strict conditions.
The charges relate to spying for China, one of the people said, adding that the man, whose precise role within Belgium’s national security apparatus has not been disclosed, was recruited for his access to Brussels’ international diplomatic circles.
Brussels is home to many EU institutions, NATO headquarters, some 100 international organizations and 300 foreign diplomatic missions.
The arrest comes amid mounting pressure on Belgium’s security agencies. In February, Belgian publication Le Soir revealed that Chinese hackers had infiltrated state security systems between 2021 and 2023, in what is considered the agency’s largest-ever data breach.