EU commissioner warns Russia of military consequences for hitting NATO defense targets
Photo: EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius (Getty Images)
An attack by Russia on arms factories in Europe would provoke a military response from NATO and could lead to the invocation of Article 5 on mutual defense, states EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius.
The commissioner's comments came on the sidelines of a meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Defense and Security.
This was a reaction to a statement by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who described European arms factories producing weapons for Ukraine as potential military targets.
"If Russia will hit our factories in European territories, that would be Article 5," Kubilius emphasized.
A representative of the commissioner confirmed that the statement specifically referred to a scenario of an air or missile strike on a military enterprise within the territory of an Alliance member state.
The statement comes amid a growing number of sabotage incidents at defense facilities in Europe.
In particular, Estonia has officially stated the involvement of Russian special services in an arson attack on the defense company Milrem Robotics.
Similar suspicious incidents at defense enterprises are currently being investigated in Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovakia.
Kubilius's statement sparked discussions in NATO diplomatic circles, as the decision to invoke Article 5 is made by Alliance members, and the mechanism itself is intentionally kept flexible.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted that this article is intentionally ambiguous so as not to reveal specific Alliance actions to the adversary.
The security situation in Europe remains tense due to the increasing number of sabotage incidents.
Previously, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged allies to prepare for a new wave of hybrid attacks from Russia, including systematic arson and sabotage at EU defense and critical infrastructure facilities.
At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the alleged new intimidation of Alliance countries, asserting that letters to NATO are not nuclear threats, but merely a response to Western actions.
Despite this, the Kremlin warned of its readiness to deploy all available types of weaponry in the event of a threat to Kaliningrad.
