Pentagon: the official who participated in the NATO summit in Vilnius showed symptoms of “Havana syndrome” – Respublika.lt

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NATO summit in Vilnius. Photo of Elta.

“I can confirm that a senior Department of Defense official experienced symptoms similar to those reported in cases of unusual health conditions,” she said. This person allegedly attended the summit in Vilnius, but was not part of the Defense Department delegation.

“Havana syndrome” is a collective term for symptoms such as headache, hearing problems, dizziness and nausea, which many US diplomats and their relatives who lived in the Cuban capital, Havana, complained about.

Similar complaints have been reported from other parts of the world. The mentioned persons stated that their symptoms started after a strange noise or feeling a lot of pressure in the head.

The US government initially did not rule out that this could have been a kind of attack. But more than a year ago, US intelligence agencies, according to an official report, largely assumed that there was no “foreign adversary” involved in the so-called “Havana Syndrome.” The reported complaints were probably the result of pre-existing conditions, other illnesses or environmental factors.

On Monday, journalists from the German publication “Spiegel” together with colleagues from the US news magazine “60 Minutes” (CBS) and the Russian portal “The Insider” published a study that explains why the “Havana Syndrome” may be connected to Russian intelligence.

Spiegel also quoted one person who claimed that the first cases of the syndrome appeared as early as 2014. US Consulate in Frankfurt am Main.

Until now, it was known that the first cases were detected in Havana in 2016. CBS also mentioned the case in Vilnius in its report.

The US State Department said it would neither confirm nor comment on the reports. The affected workers are said to have received compensation and support under the Havana law.

The department drew attention to the fact that the Intelligence Committee in 2023 came to the conclusion in March that it is unlikely that a foreign adversary is related to the “Havana syndrome”.

Such assessment is said to be followed. If there was new information, intelligence would appreciate it.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it has no comment at this time on the information that has appeared in the press regarding the use of a weapon causing the “Havana syndrome” against a United States official.

“Currently, we have no comments regarding the information mentioned in the article,” the VSD’s Strategic Communication Department said in a written comment to Eltai.