Hague confirms railway arson during NATO summit
Illustrative photo: The Hague confirms railway arson during NATO summit (GettyImages)
Dutch police have found no evidence of a foreign state’s involvement in the railway fire that disrupted train services on the first day of the NATO summit in The Hague, according to a post on the Dutch police website.
In their investigation, law enforcement ruled out the possibility of a technical fault or accident as the cause of the railway fire.
The statement said that the most likely scenario was that the fire had been deliberately set to disrupt train services that day. There were no indications that it was committed for copper theft or that a state actor was behind the incident.
The fire occurred on the night before the NATO summit in The Hague, on 24 June, on the railway line from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam and Utrecht. As a result, train traffic was halted until almost the end of the day.
At the time, Security Minister David van Weel said that sabotage could not be ruled out. He noted that this was one of the scenarios being investigated, and if confirmed, the next question would be who was responsible, whether it was an activist group, a foreign state, or something else. For now, he said, the priority was to repair the cables and restore traffic.
NATO summit in Hague
The summit is taking place from 24 to 25 June, including a meeting of the NATO–Ukraine Council. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte opened the summit, noting that it was happening "at a dangerous moment for a billion citizens." The main topic is increasing defence spending, but member states will also discuss support for Ukraine.
