Russia is testing the limits of NATO’s collective defence by engaging in attacks that fall short of the alliance activating the Article 5 clause, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius told LRT.lt in an interview published on Wednesday.
“In political discussions, the phrase that Russia is testing us to the limits of NATO’s Article 5 is being used increasingly often. And this is not just about Lithuania, Latvia or other countries on the eastern flank. Russia is testing how far it can go without crossing a line that could prompt NATO to take collective defence action,” he said.
The prime minister spoke to LRT.lt during a visit to Poland earlier this month, which followed a series of incidents involving Russian-linked attacks on infrastructure as well as a reported attempt to assassinate Polish leaders.
“This poses a serious challenge for the alliance: how should we respond to and deal with such actions? These are not classic conventional attacks or straightforward border violations. Often, these actions are carried out through hired individuals, and investigations indicate that those commissioning them should be sought in the east,” he said in reference to Russia.
Sinkevičius said he would work closely with his Polish counterpart to speed up responses and improve coordination in the event of future incidents.
“One of the most important agreements was that we, as heads of government, would communicate directly. We exchanged personal contact details so that, if an incident occurred or we received important information, including from intelligence agencies, we could contact each other promptly rather than wait for the information to reach us through our teams.
“We also agreed that, in the long term, the Lithuanian and Polish armed forces should work more closely together, particularly in the border region. This is also linked to the planned military training area in Kapčiamiestis,” he said.
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