German intelligence chief: NATO may trigger Article 5 if Russia attacks

2024-11-28 20:13:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The head of German intelligence, Bruno Kahl, says that in the coming years there could be a possible attack by Russia in the direction of NATO.

Bruno Kahl said yesterday that he expects Russia to increase its hybrid attacks, which could range from physical acts of sabotage such as arson to cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns.

"Russia's extensive use of hybrid measures increases the risk that NATO will eventually consider invoking the mutual defense clause of Article 5," Kahl said at a meeting with the DGAP expert group in Berlin, Reuters writes.

According to Article 5, if a NATO member is attacked, other members of the alliance are obliged to help it respond.

"We still have no indication that Russia intends to go to war, but if such sentiments prevail in the government in Moscow, then the risk of a military conflict will increase," he said.

So he said that the increase in Russian military potential means that a direct military confrontation with NATO becomes a viable option for the Kremlin.

Kahl said an analysis of German intelligence suggests Russian defense ministry chiefs doubt whether Article 5 would actually be invoked in the event of an attack on a member.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned earlier this month that Moscow was waging "an intensifying campaign of hybrid attacks" against Western targets and said that Russia's frontline in Ukraine's war lay in the Baltic region and in all of Europe.

Article 5 of the NATO Treaty

If a NATO member is attacked, that attack will be considered an attack against all allies, who are committed to help by all means, including "armed force", as this article says, with the aim of restoring of international peace and security.

Bruno Kahl noted that Moscow is massively upgrading its military, and perhaps so that the Russian armed forces have the personnel and material capabilities to launch an attack on NATO by the end of this decade.

However, Bruno Kahl pointed out that at the moment "there are no indications of specific military goals of Russia. But if forces with such aims gain the upper hand in the seat of government in Moscow, it will increase the risk of a military conflict in the coming years."/DW