Czech president calls on NATO to "show its teeth" in response to Russian provocations – The Guardian

Czech President Petr Pavel has called on NATO to "show its teeth" in response to repeated Russian attempts to test the Alliance's resolve on its eastern flank, proposing a range of measures including internet shutdowns, cutting Russian banks off from global financial systems and shooting down aircraft that violate NATO airspace.

Source: Pavel in an interview with The Guardian in Prague

Details: Pavel called for "decisive enough, potentially even asymmetric" responses to Moscow's provocative behaviour towards the alliance, warning that otherwise the Kremlin could escalate its actions.

The Guardian noted that the 64-year-old retired general and former chair of NATO Military Committee has extensive defence experience, something rare among European leaders. Years of negotiations with Moscow through the now-suspended NATO-Russia Council have made him an influential voice on the future of the alliance and the threats it faces.

Pavel expressed frustration over what he described as "a lack of determination to keep pushing from the United States on Russia", although he avoided directly criticising Donald Trump, despite the US president continuing to question Washington's future commitments to the alliance.

The Czech president said he does not believe that "any direct criticism of the United States will help at this point".

Instead, he focused on the need for NATO members to take a firm stance towards Russia. He said that after the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Moscow studied NATO's behaviour and "developed a behaviour style to almost meet the threshold for Article 5, but always keeping it slightly below that level".

Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all members.

Quote: "When I asked them [Russian military leaders] why do they do these provocative actions in the air, close encounters or overflights over battleships in the Black Sea or the Baltic Sea, their answer was 'because we can'. That's exactly the kind of behaviour we allowed."

"After the annexation of Crimea, we discussed many times the potential continuation of aggression, but my biggest fear was not an open military aggression against a NATO country, but rather a provocation below the Article 5 threshold."

Details: He added that if some European leaders "always prefer a diplomatic solution, even though Russians show no willingness for such", NATO risks becoming divided and losing its ability to act.

Quote: "Russia, unfortunately, does not understand nice language. They mostly understand the language of power, ideally accompanied with action… if violations of NATO airspace continue, we would have to come to a decision to shoot down either an unmanned or manned aircraft."

Details: Pavel said the alliance should also consider "asymmetric" measures "that are not killing people, but are sensitive enough to make Russia understand this is not the way they should go".

Quote: "For example, switching off the internet or satellites – you saw what [difference] Starlink made on the battlefield – or cutting Russian banks from the financial system."

Details: Echoing recent warnings by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Pavel said that "If we do not react to the violations we face today, then Russia would probably step up".

"Within their doctrine, they have the provision 'escalate to de-escalate'… I think whatever we will allow, they will try further and further," he said. The EU talked about Russia's shadow fleet for years, but once action was finally taken, "all the fleet was redirected to other regions".

Background:

• A fighter jet had for the first time shot down what was likely a stray Ukrainian strike drone over Estonia on 19 May after air-raid warnings were issued in part of the country.
• Pavel warned that peace in Europe can no longer be taken for granted.

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