The head of the German federal intelligence service (BND), Bruno Kahl, is confident that Russia can launch an attack on the territory of the North Atlantic alliance in the coming years. This is reported by Zeit, reports UNN.
Details
"Russia is preparing for war with the West," Bruno Kahl said at an event organized by the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. The head of the BND suggests that the Russian military can attack the West before the end of the decade, both personally and financially.
"Military confrontation becomes a possible option for the Kremlin",
At the same time, he believes that this will not be a large-scale attack on European NATO countries, but a limited operation. As an example, he called the possibility of a Russian invasion of the Norwegian island of Svalbard to allegedly clean up the territory or to the Baltic states under the pretext of protecting the Russian-speaking population.
The head of the German intelligence service explained that such actions are aimed at undermining the principle of collective security, enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. In his opinion, this may be an attempt to weaken or destroy NATO.
"If such views prevail in the Russian leadership, the risk of military conflict in the coming years will also increase, "
The head of the BND is confident that Russia will try to split NATO even before the possible outbreak of war – for example, by luring individual member countries to its side.
recall
German defense minister Boris Pistorius warnedthat Russia could attack a NATO country by 2029. This requires an increase in the number of German military personnel and deterrence capabilities.