The Secretary General of NATO boosted the military command’s alert status on Tuesday, after explosions at the airport in Brussels and a nearby subway station a few miles away killed at least 31 people.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement that he made the decision as NATO, which has been based in Belgium for decades, monitors what is unfolding in the city.
“We all stand together with our Ally Belgium on this dark day,” Rasmussen’s statement said. “This is a cowardly attack. An attack on our values and on our open societies. Terrorism will not defeat democracy and take away our freedoms. ”
The U.S. Embassy in Brussels warned on Tuesday that it recommended Americans shelter in place and avoid public transportation. Its alert status was updated to reflect an imminent or ongoing attack.
Attempts to reach NATO quarters in Brussels were not initially successful Tuesday. NATO is based just southwest of Brussels Airport, with the headquarters for NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) about 40 miles southwest near the town of Mons. The top commander there is Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, who is expected to retire this spring and be replaced by Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti a supreme allied commander of Europe.
NATO was established in 1949 following World War II after 12 nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty. Members agreed that “an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.” The first supreme allied commander was Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who established headquarters in Paris.
NATO’s SHAPE was moved to Belgium in the 1960s, after France withdrew as a member of its integrated military structure, according to NATO. The supreme allied commander at the time, Army Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer, initially wanted SHAPE to be located near NATO’s headquarters in Brussels, but Belgian officials decided it must be at least 31 miles away from the city because it would be a target in a time of war.
Belgium offered Camp Casteau, a military camp near Mons as a home for SHAPE, and agreed to build a highway connecting Mons and Belgium to ease NATO’s objections to not being centrally located in Brussels.
The city continues to be the site of numerous conferences directly affecting military operations across the globe. A Brussels Conferences on Afghanistan is planned for October 2016, with the European Union government hosting and U.S. and Afghan officials attending.
