Belgian police have detained a man and a woman returning from fighting in Syria who were planning a possible attack at the European Commission’s headquarters, according to media reports.

Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported that the Berlaymont building was one of a number of potential targets in what would have been a similar attack to the one on the Jewish museum in Brussels earlier this year, according to unnamed sources within the Belgian police. The couple was detained in Belgium after returning from fighting with extremists in Syria. The couple are Dutch nationals of Turkish origin, according to the reports.

However the European Commission said it has not been informed of any terrorist threat against the building, and Belgian police have also denied any specific threat. This morning (22 September), security personnel were checking identification of people entering the main doors of the Commission’s headquarters at the Berlaymont building, before the security screening.

An internal email sent by Maroš Šefčovič, the European commissioner for inter-institutional relations and administration, to Commission staff  said that “there has been no specific threat to the European Commission or the staff identified”.

“You can be assured that all possible measures have been taken to react on threats,” he wrote. “I have decided, regarding the international developments and as a precaution measure, to increase the security measures in the Commission’s buildings.”

The couple was part of a group of five people arrested on terrorism charges in a joint operation by Belgian, Dutch and Turkish police. The arrests followed an investigation that lasted several months. One other suspect was arrested in Belgium, one in the Netherlands and one in Turkey.

According to reports, the police made the arrests following months of surveillance after they discovered that the group had acquired handguns. The arrests took place in August, but more details emerged this weekend.

Spokesman Jean-Pascal Thoreau of the Belgian Public Prosecution Service confirmed that two people were arrested on 7 August on the suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities. “There were no clear signs that an attack on European Commission buildings was being prepared,” he said in a statement. “In the investigation that led to the arrest of the two persons, it has been clear that those persons were living in a building close to the European institutions. There are however no clear signs that this is in any way linked to having plans to create a terrorist attack.”

Officials estimate that some 400 Belgian citizens may have travelled to Syria to fight with extremist groups such as the Islamic State (IS).

The Brussels Jewish Museum was the site of a terrorist attack in May, on the same day as the final day of voting in the European Parliament elections. Mehdi Nemmouche is alleged to have shot at people indiscriminately outside the building, killing four. He is awaiting trial.

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