Europe continues to be not able to defend itself from Russia despite years of warnings, experts have warned.
America’s chief military strategist, Elbridge Colby, told European defence ministers today that Nato countries need to extend their budgets to minimize dependency on the US.
The sobering warning was issued as Russian covert attacks and sabotage increased across Europe.
‘Now it’s time to march out together, to be pragmatic, now we have a very strong basis for working together in partnership, for a Nato based on partnership moderately than dependency,’ Colby said.
It’s the newest push to make European Nato members less reliant on the US for defence measures.
Trump already unveiled plans to cut back the variety of troops on the eastern flank – but is Europe in any position to defend itself if the US were to withdraw troops completely?
Keir Giles, a Russian expert at Chatham House, told Metro: ‘Europe just isn’t able to interchange the US by way of defence, and it should take a while to accomplish that, even when it were to begin applying effort in a way we haven’t seen to date.’
If the US opts to make a sudden withdrawal of military support, moderately than a more ‘sensible’ phasing out, Europe could be severely lacking in defensive capabilities, which could leave it open to an attack.
He adds: ‘To preserve European security, Europe simply must be more powerful than Russia in key areas that might deter Moscow. Everything of Europe is a frontline area so far as Russia is anxious.’
Russian-born UK citizen and former BBC journalist Sergei Cristo told Metro there are hard military components NATO needs to enhance, but identified that Europe just isn’t doing enough to battle Russian hybrid warfare.
‘Russian military strategy is currently based on the Gerasimov Doctrine, which principally says that “concealed technique of war”- which include political interference, taking control of hostile countries through intelligence operations, and interference in elections – are more vital than military motion,’ Cristo said.
‘Personally, I don’t think Nato is prepared,’ he added.
Cristo told Metro how a number of years ago, he spoke to a source within the Lithuanian government who revealed the country was preparing for war with Russia in 2026.
‘Well, now it’s 2026, and it was only last yr that the European Union was talking about buying arms. They’re a great distance behind, and while the EU is now working with Nato on European defence, it clearly isn’t there yet,’ he added.
Cristo said he believes Russian political interference in Britain and across Europe will escalate in the following two years, as Russia tries to ‘neutralise’ Western governments by helping far-right populists take office.
‘That is something the safety services and institutional capability haven’t yet been realigned to face effectively,’ he added.
‘MI5 and the police are scared stiff of investigating political movements or parties for historical reasons. You may see this in the way in which MI5 is currently specializing in Russian sabotage.
‘To me, this reflects a successful Russian tactic of diverting resources through destructive tactics. They’re distracting our strategy away from political interference and onto something else.’
Russian interference in Europe
Russia has been waging a campaign of sabotage across Europe for years, with 145 instances of ‘disruption’ recorded.
An investigation has documented details of Vladimir Putin’s ‘hybrid war’, which has been increasing in frequency and severity.
From explosives placed on railway tracks to exploding DHL parcels and warehouse fires, chaos has been unleashed by the Kremlin, which still denies any involvement.
A senior European intelligence official told AP: ‘It’s a 24/7 operation between all of the services to stop it.’
The investigation comes after the brand new head of MI6 warned that the front line with Russia is ‘in all places’.
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