“It is generally very unclear. I think that in the case where serious damage is done to critical infrastructure, if there are certain casualties, then yes, I definitely think that the countries affected would invoke Article 5 and accordingly the readiness level of all our armies would be raised, additional measures would be taken regarding the protection of critical infrastructure. Perhaps additional measures would be applied at the border,” D. Matulionis said to LRT television on Thursday.
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Article 5 is a NATO collective security provision stating that an attack against one member is an attack against all Alliance countries.
However, according to the president’s advisor, so far Alliance countries see no reason to invoke it.
“It is hard to say when it would be activated, but it is obvious that if there were a direct military invasion, even of limited scale, it would definitely be an Article 5 situation and the affected country would invoke it. And there is no doubt, under the Washington Treaty, that Article 5 would be declared immediately and automatically,” said D. Matulionis.
He spoke as incidents related to what Western governments call hybrid warfare are increasing in Europe.
BNS wrote that as recently as Tuesday, Germany accused Russia of attempting a hybrid attack last month at the strategic Leipzig airport using a drone with explosives.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that increasingly brazen Russian attempts to destabilize Europe pose a growing risk of bloodshed.
Fueling concern over Russia’s intentions, CIA Director John Ratcliffe unexpectedly visited Moscow last week, and US media reported that he warned Russia not to attack any NATO country.
Additionally, at the end of June, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also stated that he does not rule out the possibility that Russia could carry out a “false flag” operation within the next two years to justify an attack on a NATO member country.
Earlier that same month, the Swedish parliament’s defense committee warned that Russia could quite soon take military steps against Alliance countries if the Kremlin decides the time is right.
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