The war in Ukraine, a destabilizing offensive for the entire security of the European continent – Le Monde

This was the whole point of the extraordinary summit of NATO leaders held by videoconference on Friday February 25: anticipating, in order to better stem them, the threats that the war led by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine is already posing to the continent as a whole. The Kremlin’s desire to take control of the country, even if it means overthrowing President Volodymyr Zelensky, the scale of the military operations undertaken for this purpose, arouses the worst fears about the intentions of the head of the Kremlin, whether within the Atlantic Alliance or in neighboring countries which, like Georgia and Moldova, aspire to join it.

Emmanuel Macron spoke, in a message delivered on Friday to the French Assembly and Senate, of a “destabilizing confrontation for the whole continent” : “Russia is contravening its international commitments and calling into question the cardinal principle of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, the very foundation of the European and international order”explained the Head of State. “The fact is that there is a risk that President Putin, for his own reasons, will decide to test Westerners and Europeans” beyond the borders of Ukraine, deciphers a source at the Elysée: “We are extremely vigilant. »

The concerns are of different orders. They concern first of all the countries on the eastern flank of NATO, the former allies of the USSR whose integration into the Atlantic Alliance Vladimir Putin has still not digested. Faced with the Russian president, the leaders of the thirty member states of NATO sought Friday, above all, to show their unity and their determination. Their final press release denounces “the most serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades” and calls on Russia to end the conflict.

“Unwavering” support for Ukraine

Leaders pledged solidarity and support “unwavering” to Ukraine – which is not a member of NATO – but confirmed that their military engagement on the ground would be limited to the reinforcement “defensive” member countries in the eastern part of the Alliance. The text ends with a reminder of the participants’ unanimous attachment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, its mutual defense clause in the event of external aggression.

Will this beautiful unity survive in the event that it is necessary to make a concrete commitment to the protection of the Baltic States or, for example, to intensify the surveillance of Russian activities in the Black Sea? Marc Pierini, associate researcher at the Carnegie Europe center, asks the question. For him, from now on, four countries bordering Russia – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland – will require even greater attention.

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