NATO prepares tough response to Russia

Some diplomats, particularly from eastern EU countries, are calling on NATO to move away from “reactive” responses to Russian provocations and start “striking back.” This would be easiest to do in cyberspace, where many countries have the capabilities for offensive cyber operations, according to the Financial Times.

“If all we do is continue to respond, we are simply inviting Russia to continue testing us and creating problems for us. Especially in a situation where this is an asymmetric hybrid war — it costs them little, but it costs us a lot. We must try to be more inventive,” said a diplomat from the Baltic states.

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Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavolo Dragone, head of NATO's military committee, said the alliance is considering strengthening its response to Russia's hybrid warfare.

"We are exploring all possibilities... In the cyber sphere, we tend to be reactive. We are thinking about acting more aggressively or proactively, rather than reactively," he said, while acknowledging that this is a departure from how we are used to thinking and acting and that it also raises a lot of legal questions.

"We have significantly more restrictions than our adversary — because of ethical approaches, because of legislation, because of jurisdiction. That's a problem. I don't want to say that we are in a losing position, but it is more difficult than that of our adversary," said the Italian admiral.

Dragone noted that some of the solutions devised by NATO in response to incidents very similar to manifestations of hybrid warfare have proved quite effective. Among these, he mentioned the Baltic Guardian mission, created after a series of “accidental” damage to underwater infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland by ship anchors.

“Since the launch of Baltic Guardian, nothing else has happened. This means that deterrence is working,” the admiral noted.

NATO reacted with concern to how Finland's attempt to prosecute the crew of the tanker Eagle S, who were caught red-handed after an anchor sabotage, ended with a Finnish court ultimately closing the case.

When asked whether this outcome would appear to give Russian ships carte blanche to engage in similar activities in international waters, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen acknowledged that this was indeed a problem.

Photo: ankasam.org.

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