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Russia would target Moldova and the Western Balkans if it succeeds in Ukraine.
The Danish Minister of Defense, Lund Poulsen, has warned that a NATO country may be attacked by Russia soon.
Polusen stated that Denmark should accelerate defense investments as Russia is rearming faster than expected and could attack a NATO country within 3-5 years.
" It cannot be ruled out that within three to five years Russia will test the strength of Article 5 and the solidarity of NATO. This was not NATO's assessment in 2023. This is new knowledge that is emerging now ," he said.
Poulsen noted that there is no direct threat to Denmark, but that the alliance could face hybrid attacks aimed at destabilizing the situation in one of the NATO member states.
European countries have increasingly warned in recent weeks that they believe Russia could try to undermine NATO in the next decade. Privately, many worry that an electoral victory for Donald Trump in November's US presidential election could further embolden Russia.
Sweden's military chief and prime minister have this year warned its citizens to mentally prepare for war, while German and Estonian ministers have said Russia could be able to attack NATO within five to eight years.
As Kiev's Western allies have struggled to agree on further funding and increased arms production for Ukraine, Russia has reignited its military-industrial complex and secured weapons from countries such as Iran and North Korea.
" There is reason to be genuinely concerned. Russia's capacity to produce military equipment has grown enormously. . . . Russia potentially has the will to launch attacks. Now they may also have the capability in terms of military capability earlier than were waiting ," said Poulsen.
Troels Lund Poulsen joined colleagues from Sweden, the UK, Romania, Germany and others to sound the alarm about the potential for increased Russian defense spending to lead to direct confrontation with NATO, which would test the commitment of the collective defense of the alliance known as Article 5.
Micael Johansson, the chief executive of Saab, the Swedish company that is one of Europe's leading defense groups, told the Financial Times that he was concerned that Russia would produce more than 10 times as many artillery rounds - about 4 to 5 million a year - than Europe was able to. to. He said Western governments should make more long-term commitments to defense companies.
" We are investing a lot. Is this enough? It's not so easy to understand how far we have to go to have deterrence and resilience against the threat from the east ," Johansson said.
He added that the alliance has a significant need for more countries, more capacity to produce weapons in Europe.
Vlad Gheorghiță, the newly appointed head of the Romanian armed forces, said Russia would target Moldova and the Western Balkans if it succeeded in Ukraine, adding that Romanians must prepare and the military must be strengthened in response.
"The Russian Federation will not stop here. If [Putin] wins in Ukraine, the main target will be the Republic of Moldova. We will witness tensions in the Western Balkans. I am more than convinced that President Vladimir Putin's policy will escalate in the near future. The people of Romania, like all of Europe, should be worried and we should prepare accordingly ," Gheorghiță told Radio Free Europe last week.
While Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's general secretary, said earlier this week that the alliance does not see any imminent threat against a member country./ Adapted "Pamphlet" from "Financial Times"
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