American General Alexus Grynkewich, head of NATO’s Allied Forces in Europe, sent an unambiguous message to Russia: The Alliance has no intention of causing a confrontation, but no enemy should expect to strike a member country without consequences.
Të lidhura
None found
He spoke at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, October 12, at a moment when relations between Russia and European circles are going through a particularly delicate phase.
“As an Alliance, we are not seeking any war. However, everyone must understand that NATO’s defensive character does not mean weakness at all. If anyone thinks of doing violence to our countries, our response will be war,” the general declared.
Any hostile movement toward one of the member states, he said, would receive a decisive response and would end in failure.
During the presentation of what he called the Alliance’s “theory of victory,” he detailed the sequence with which NATO would act in the face of an assault on its territories.
First of all, allied forces would block the attacker’s entry and stop the attack. In case the enemy did not stop, the next step would be degrading its military capabilities, up to annihilating them, if necessary.
A key element of Grynkewich’s warning was that the allied response would not end only with the units directly involved in the attack, but could also extend to the structures that support, equip and command them.
The purpose of this communication was to demonstrate that the Alliance has the foundations and the readiness to act in unison and without hesitation against any aggression.
His words come at a moment when a number of governments in Europe have raised their voices against actions attributed to Russia, ranging from destruction through sabotage to drone alerts and strikes against cyber systems.
Although Moscow was not openly named in the speech delivered in the Polish capital, the message was widely perceived as a direct signal to it, coming at a time when the security climate on the continent has deteriorated significantly.
It is recalled that NATO’s 2022 strategic document lists Russia as the most significant and closest source of risk to the security of the Alliance’s countries.
For some time now, the Russian leadership has threatened that it could use its nuclear arsenal if the Alliance attempted to block the enclave of Kaliningrad.
Meanwhile, at the center of the NATO commander’s speech remains the conviction that the Alliance’s objective is not to start any conflict, but to prevent it, through its readiness and power to counter any threat.
As he himself emphasized, a continuous defensive posture and open lines of communication constitute the main pillars for avoiding misunderstandings and for not allowing crises to escalate into a full-scale war.
His statement arrives at a moment when the defense of Europe is one of the hottest topics of discussion among the allies, while member states are seeking ways to raise their level of defense and readiness.
