Sikorski says NATO will have a serious discussion if there are casualties — Interia

During a visit to London, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that NATO would have to hold a “very serious discussion” if Russia’s hybrid attacks — the aggressor state — result in deaths. He said this in an interview with the Financial Times, Interia reports.

A threshold for the Alliance’s response

According to Sikorski, Moscow is conducting an increasing number of operations aimed at destabilizing European societies. He noted that the allies must jointly assess what the response to such actions should be.

The minister stressed that NATO has no pre-agreed definition of the threshold after which Russian actions would require a decisive response from the Alliance. He did not specify what measures NATO could take in such a case.

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Sikorski also recalled that Poland and Estonia requested consultations under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty after Russian drones and aircraft violated their airspace. Article 5 of the treaty provides for collective defense in the event of an armed attack on a NATO member state.

Proposals for restrictions

The Polish foreign minister called on European allies to close Russian consulates, reduce the number of diplomats from Russia, and restrict their movement. He also proposed requiring biometric passports from all Russian citizens entering the European Union in order to make it harder for agents to use false identities.

In addition, Sikorski supported limiting the number of tourist visas for Russians. According to him, EU countries issued nearly 500,000 such visas to Russian citizens last year. On Monday, EU foreign ministers are to discuss possible restrictions for Russian diplomats and tourists in Luxembourg.