Czech president urges Nato to ‘show its teeth’ over Russia’s provocations | Nato

Czech President Petr Pavel called on NATO to “show its teeth” in response to Russia’s repeated tests of its resolve on the alliance’s eastern flank, proposing a range of options including shutting down its internet, separating its banks from global financial systems and shooting down jets that violate allied airspace.

Speaking to the Guardian in Prague, Pavel called for “sufficiently decisive, potentially even asymmetrical” responses to counter Moscow’s provocative behavior against the alliance or avoid the risk of the Kremlin intensifying its actions.

A retired general and former chairman of NATO’s military committee, the 64-year-old’s defense background is rare among European leaders. His years of experience working with Moscow on the suspended NATO-Russia council has made him an influential voice on the future of the alliance and the threats it faces.

He expressed disappointment at “the lack of US determination to continue to pressure Russia”, although he stayed away from direct criticism of Donald Trump as the US president continued to cast doubt on the future of Washington’s commitments to the alliance.

Pavel before He told the Czech media: “Trump has done more to undermine NATO’s credibility in the last few weeks than Vladimir Putin has managed to do in years”.

He dodged questions about that comment and said he didn’t think “any direct criticism of the United States would be helpful at this point.”

Instead, he focused on the need to force NATO members to take a firm stance against Russia. He said that after the illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Moscow learned how NATO works and “developed a course of conduct that almost meets the Article 5 threshold but always keeps it slightly below that level.”

Article 5 of the NATO agreement states that an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all members.

Russian military leaders sometimes laugh at the alliance’s decision-making paralysis, Pavel said. “When I asked them why they were taking these provocative actions, close encounters or flights over warships in the Black Sea or the Baltic Sea, their answer was ‘because we can.’ And that’s exactly the kind of behavior we allowed,” he said.

This week, a NATO warplane shot down a drone over Estonia, and similar incidents disrupted daily life in Latvia and Lithuania. In most cases, the drones are believed to be Ukrainian units targeting Russia and have been intercepted and redirected to NATO territory via electronic warfare. Russia also accuses the Baltic states of working with Ukraine to launch drone strikes from its territory, an allegation it strongly denies.

“We discussed many times the possibility of continued aggression after the annexation of Crimea, but my greatest fear was not an open military attack against a NATO country, but rather a provocation below the Article 5 threshold,” he said.

He said NATO risks being divided and unable to act if some European leaders “always prefer a diplomatic solution even if the Russians are not willing to do so.”

“Unfortunately, Russia does not understand beautiful language. They mostly understand the language of power, ideally accompanied by action… If violations of NATO airspace continue, we will have to make a decision to shoot down an unmanned or manned aircraft.”

Pavel said the alliance should also consider “asymmetric” measures that “do not kill people, but are sensitive enough to make Russia understand that this is not the path it should go.”

“For example, turning off the internet or satellites; you saw what happened [difference] Starlink was built on the battlefield… – or the removal of Russian banks from the financial system.”

Reiterating the recent warnings of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Pavel said, “If we do not react to the violations we face today, Russia will probably take action.”

“There is a ‘de-escalation’ provision in their doctrine… I think they will try to go further, no matter what we allow,” he said. The EU had been talking about the Russian stay-behind fleet for years, but when it finally took action, “suddenly the whole fleet was diverted to other areas,” he said.

Pavel insisted that Ukraine needed more pressure and determination from the United States. He said U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner should probably get tougher on Russia and tie sanctions relief to a potential peace deal.

He also criticized European policy towards Russia and its failure to define what a potential post-war security arrangement might look like. “Instead, we mostly wait for what comes from Washington,” he said. “And even the US could be happier with Europe being more active.

“If we don’t put forward our own proposals, we look weak or confused.”

Pavel believed that the best moment to push Russia further would be last year, when Russia was struggling economically and militarily, but the US-Israeli war against Iran helped Moscow by increasing oil revenues. However, Russia is still in a difficult situation and Europe and the USA need to make a “last move” on sanctions to bring Russia to the negotiation table.

“If you want to get rid of the sanctions that they want, if you want to start a discussion on the security of Europe, which you have repeatedly stated, we are ready for that. But the condition is clear: a ceasefire and peace negotiations in Ukraine.”

Domestically, Pavel is locked in a bitter constitutional dispute with populist Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš, whom he defeated in the 2023 presidential race, over who should represent the country at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara.

The latest clash follows a series of disagreements with the government, including its refusal to appoint a controversial coalition politician as a minister, when thousands of Czechs took to the streets in February to voice their support for Pavel.

But despite criticism accusing him of acting as an opposition figure ahead of a possible re-election campaign in 2028, Pavel insists the dispute is a “matter of principle” over the president’s role and that he would be ready to go to the constitutional court if necessary.

“I believe there is still room for compromise, which I offered to the prime minister,” he said, proposing he attend informal debates at the summit while leaving it to the government to take part in discussions on defense spending.

An avid biker and rock music fan, he joked at a public meeting last month that if he was excluded from the meeting, he might go to the ZZ Top concert in Pardubice instead. But he will gladly miss attending the summit. in question.