cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/59867996
German media outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung, WDR, and NDR also cite the report, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears intent on testing NATO’s Article 5 guarantees. The alliance’s mutual defence clause obliges member states to come to one another’s aid if attacked. The assessment suggests Putin may seek to challenge how seriously that commitment would be honoured.
Germany has to pump out these messages because they live so far from the critical border. It’s easy to not understand the risk.
Germany is still so uncertain of the risk that they still use Russian gas even 4 years after saying they were going to stop.