NATO members ‘deeply concerned’ by activities such as sabotage on alliance soil. They blame Russia

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO countries say they are deeply concerned by a campaign of hybrid activities on the military alliance’s soil they attribute to Russia, and which they say constitute a threat to their security.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday in a message posted on the social media platform X that actions including disinformation, sabotage, acts of violence and cyber and electronic interference “will not deter us from supporting Ukraine.”

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Russian Foreign Ministry on Stoltenberg’s statement.

Earlier this year, a U.K.-based think tank said Russia was rebuilding its capacity to destabilize European countries, posing a strategic threat to NATO as its members focus on the war in Ukraine.

“NATO Allies are deeply concerned about recent malign activities on Allied territory, including those resulting in the investigation and charging of multiple individuals in connection with hostile state activity affecting Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom,” the North Atlantic Council, the principal political decision-making body within NATO, said.

NATO allies condemned Russia’s behavior and called on the country “to uphold its international obligations.”

“These incidents are part of an intensifying campaign of activities which Russia continues to carry out across the Euro-Atlantic area, including on Alliance territory and through proxies,” the statement read.

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