Elbit Systems is suspected of bribing officials from the bloc's procurement agency

NATO's main procurement agency has suspended multiple contracts with Israel's largest weapons producer, Elbit Systems, amid an expanding corruption probe that has already triggered multiple arrests across Europe, several investigative media outlets have reported.

The decision was made over the summer in response to a multi-nation investigation into alleged bribery inside the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), with new details revealed on Monday by La Lettre, Le Soir, Knack, and Follow the Money.

Elbit is reportedly suspected of working through an intermediary, consultant Eliau Eluasvili, who allegedly bribed NSPA insiders to secure deals for the company. The 60-year-old Italian national has been on the run since late September, when a Belgian court issued an international arrest warrant for him.

An internal NSPA email dated July 31 lists 15 suspended contracts, 13 of them involving Elbit Systems or its subsidiary Orion Advanced Systems, according to investigative reporters. The deals under scrutiny include deals for fuzes, aircraft flares, 155mm artillery shells, and upgrades for Portuguese naval patrol ships, according to the outlets.

Documents also indicate that the Israeli manufacturer has been barred from bidding on new contracts until the inquiry concludes.

The scandal has exposed what reporters have described as a shadowy network of private operators exploiting a revolving-door system that allows former NSPA officials to become consultants in the defense industry. La Lettre noted that such intermediaries have flourished in "the new geopolitical situation" and as a result of "the explosion in European defense budgets." 

The sharp rise in defense spending among EU members has been driven by efforts to arm Ukraine against Russia and by Brussels' claims that member states must prepare for a possible direct confrontation with Moscow.

Russian officials have long argued that corrupt interests within Europe are influencing the West's increasingly confrontational policies.