VILNIUS: European Union and Nato leaders on Sunday pledged to fight “ mongrel pitfalls” during visits to Lithuania and Latvia dominated by the Belarus emigrant extremity and Russia’s military figure-up near Ukraine.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also repeated his call on Russia to “ lessen” its military figure-up on the border with Ukraine and advised of “ consequences” if it used force.
The visit by Stoltenberg and European Commission principal Ursula von der Leyen came ahead of a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Latvia this week.
Stoltenberg and von der Leyen both indicted Belarus of orchestrating the migratory extremity on its border as a “ mongrel” trouble against the European Union — a charge that the government has denied. Cold-blooded trouble is a security challenge combining traditional military means and non-military tactics similar to intimation.
“ To respond to similar events, it’s important that the European Union and Nato work hand in hand,” von der Leyen said at a common news conference with Stoltenberg and Lithuanian leaders in Vilnius.
Stoltenberg said, “ We bandied how we could step up our common work between Nato and the EU”.
Von der Leyen said the EU had decided to triple to$ 226 million its backing for border operation in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland for 2021 and 2022.
She said the plutocrat would go on command vehicles and electronic surveillance, including drones.
Thousands of settlers — substantially from the Middle East — have crossed or tried to cross the Belarus border in recent months into the eastern members of the EU and Nato Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
Pertaining to the situation on the Belarus border, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that “ if the security situation gets indeed worse, we don’t rule out consultations under Nato’s Composition 4”.
Under the composition in Nato’s founding convention, any member can convene a meeting of the alliance to consult when it feels its security hovered. Poland has also said it may bring this composition.
The two-day meeting of Nato foreign ministers starting in Latvia on Tuesday is also anticipated to address Russia’s military figure-up near Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said the “ unusual” figure-up of tanks, ordnance, drones, and thousands of combat-ready colors was “ veritably concerning for numerous reasons”, also “ because it’s unprovoked and unexplained”.
“ The communication to Russia is that they should lessen, reduce pressures and be transparent,” he said, adding that “ if they decide to use force, also, of course, there will be consequences”.
“ We stand ready to defend all our abettors and we will continue to give our mate Ukraine with political and practical support,” he said.
