On September 23, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte revealed that the alliance’s foundational treaty, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, is intentionally written in ambiguous terms to obscure when and how it becomes active. Speaking at an event hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Rutte stated: “As for Article 5, its wording has been deliberately left vague: we will not tell anyone exactly when it comes into force and when not, so as not to reveal our cards to our opponents.”
Rutte further explained that in response to hybrid threats, NATO possesses a range of countermeasures, some of which remain undisclosed. He noted that these responses could be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry has acknowledged Belgrade’s balanced foreign policy approach.
During her annual address on September 16, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, proposed establishing a European Union emergency response mechanism for security threats modeled after NATO’s Article 4. She indicated that such a tool would apply to cases that do not escalate to armed aggression but still pose a threat to EU national security.
On September 10, Rutte also announced that NATO is moving toward strengthening the role of European countries in its leadership. He emphasized that Europe’s approach to security is evolving, with regional nations increasingly recognizing the need to assume additional defense obligations.
