Lea Konrad

Some have questioned the value of such public statements in terms of deterrence, naming & shaming. While it (rhetorically) demonstrates unity and determination, current tensions within the alliance undermine this stance with regard to the possibility of actual responses described in the statement.

✅ Underlining strategic ambiguity - Art. 5 applicability to campaigns & range of response „[…] determined to employ the full range of capabilities in order to deter, defend against and counter the full spectrum of cyber threats.  We will respond to these at a time and in a manner of our choosing.“

✅ Similar language as used in Strategic Concept & Summit declarations: „We remain united in our determination to counter, constrain, and contest Russian malicious cyber activities […].“

🇺🇦 „Russia’s actions will not deter Allies’ support to Ukraine, including cyber assistance through the Tallinn Mechanism and IT capability coalition. We will continue to use the lessons learned from the war against Ukraine in countering Russian malicious cyber activity.“

🇺🇦 Also notice how strong this language is on continued support for Ukraine. 🇺🇸 Maybe a hint that working relations with the U.S. Delegation are quite stable despite Trump (as suspected by many & has been the case under Trump 1.0). However, this runs contrary to reports of DoD practice under Hegseth

🇷🇺Continued clarity on the threat: „[…] illustrate the extent to which cyber and wider hybrid threats have become important tools in Russia’s ongoing campaign to destabilise NATO Allies and in Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.“

The Statement is likely a sign that attacks against allies are more severe than publicly known, hence the timing & move. The connection to one of the few other statements of this kind (malicious Russian cyber activities against GER/CZ) adds more weight to the statement and emphasizes the prior move.

The nod to attacks against other allies, incl. Romania is interesting as it differs from the language used above. Likely allies wanting to avoid confronting language. It’s widely known & recognized that all allies are subject to such attacks - choosing to highlight it still makes for a stronger case

🤝 Standing in solidarity & recognizing attributions by individual allies (here EST, FR, UK, US as NATOs leading cyber nations) has become the compromise, alternative to a joint NATO attribution in a narrow sense. Getting 32 allies to agree to such a move is not easy in the current environment.

www.nato.int/cps/en/natoh... 🚨 Significant statement (18.7.25) NATO has only published such a statement (outside summits) exclusively focusing on condemning malicious cyber activities a handful of times. Russia has been named as a malicious actor in cyberspace before but the tone is more decisive ⬇️

Zelensky arrives at NATO summit in The Hague as Netherlands pledges new aid Welcoming Zelensky at the Catshuis official residence, Schoof presented a new military aid package for Ukraine, including 100 drone radar systems, front-line vehicles for evacuating the wounded, and 8...

⚡Zelensky arrives at NATO summit in The Hague as Netherlands pledges new aid.

"Let me be clear: Ukraine is part of the family that we call the Euro-Atlantic family," Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told Zelensky in front of reporters.

#NATO #5ProzentZiel ist 1) signaling an USA (burden-sharing) und Russland (abschrecken). 2) 2% wurden 2014 beschlossen, die meisten Staaten haben es erst nach RU Angriff auf UA erfüllt. 3) Mil. nutzbare Infrastruktur ist Auslegungssache (Bahn, Häfen etc 4) NATO hat keine Instrumente zu sanktionieren

Mützenich und Stegner, die Ewiggestrigen der deutschen Sicherheits- und Außenpolitiker. Ihr „Manifest“ ist ein realitätsverweigerndes Pamphlet voller fataler Fehleinschätzungen. Wie sehr kann man eigentlich übersehen, was nicht erst seit über einem Jahrzehnt bereits in Europa passiert?

Also it violates both the NATO Articles of Agreement and the UN Charter, both of which are treaties ratified by the Senate & therefore also part of US law.

bsky.app/profile/mcop...

Q: "Would you rule out military force to take Canada?"

Trump: "I think we're not going to ever get to that point. Something could happen with Greenland, I'll be honest."

Q: "You are not ruling out military force to take Greenland?"

Trump: "I don't rule it out."

Ende August soll der Entwurf einer neuen Nationalen Sicherheitsstrategie der #USA vorliegen; gestaltet von Elbridge Colby. Der entwickelte schon Trumps NSS von 2018. Colby vertritt wie kein anderer eine radikale Fokussierung der US-Streitkräfte auf China/Asien, weg von Europa.

What the First 100 Days Taught Us About Resisting Trump For starters, it’s better to push back than to appease.

FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS to oppose the Trump administration...there is a strategy worth pursuing, one familiar to underdogs the world over: Push the aggressor beyond their limits.

My latest, on Columbia, Harvard, immigration, Abrego Garcia, the Supreme Court, and why appeasing fascists does not work.

CBS reports NSA Mike Waltz & NSC's Alex Wong are leaving. This is bad news for European allies—many have been concerned that Waltz's firing would expand influence of MAGA types. The loss of Wong, who was subject to racist conspiracy theories by Laura Loomer, will also concern China hawks.

Here is a brief breakdown of the differences between the US and Ukrainian/European (UA/E.) proposals for ending Russia's war against Ukraine.

The UA/European proposal is a response to the US one-pager that emerged from Wittkoff's trip to Moscow last week.

Illinois Gov. Pritzker acts against El Salvador over Kilmar Abrego’s detention Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has announced that the state will take punitive actions against El Salvador for holding Kilmar Abrego Garcia in custody, while a federal judge has ordered the Trump admini…

Governor JB Pritzker just announced that Illinois will be defunding investments in companies controlled by El Salvador to punish the country for holding American residents without due process.

More of this.

but does he have the cards

Trump Aides Close State Dept. Office on Foreign Disinformation Secretary of State Marco Rubio put about 40 employees on leave who had tracked disinformation by China, Russia, Iran and terrorist groups.

Rubio shutters office uncovering Foreign disinformation and subversion efforts because it surfaces too many dirty Americans.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/u...

Russia seizing thousands of homes in occupied Mariupol - BBC News To save their homes, Ukrainians face a dangerous return through Russia, and pressure to take a Russian passport.

Russia seizing thousands of homes in occupied Mariupol:

"The confiscations appear to be part of a larger scheme to “Russify” the occupied coastal city, which includes the construction of new military facilities and renaming streets to Moscow-approved titles."

- BBC Verify

A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data A whistleblower tells Congress and NPR that DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data and hid its tracks. "None of that ... information should ever leave the agency," said a former NLRB official.

Alarming. 'Within minutes after DOGE accessed the NLRB's systems, someone with an IP address in Russia started trying to log in, according to Berulis' disclosure. The attempts were "near real-time," according to the disclosure.' www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...

Trump Administration Memo Proposes Cutting State Department Funding by Nearly Half (Gift Article) The draft plan is part of a process involving the agency and the White House. It would eliminate almost all funding for international organizations that include the United Nations and NATO.

„The memo proposes eliminating almost all funding for international organizations like the United Nations and NATO, ending the budget for supporting international peacekeeping operations and … the Fulbright Program.“
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

Hungary to oppose EU military training mission in Ukraine, minister says Foreign Minister Szijjarto said his country would not agree to any part of the mission as the move crosses a line that would make the conflict more likely to spill over into Europe.

Hungary to oppose EU military training mission in Ukraine, minister says

Remember Fiona Hill? She’s now sounding the alarm again: “We’re definitely on a path toward full-on state repression. There’s no question about it. I’ve thought about this for an extraordinarily long time.” When Fiona speaks, we should all listen.

Reuters: Chinese military officers have been touring close to Russia's frontlines with Beijing's approval to draw lessons and tactics from the war. t.me/c/1817343196...

To join or not to join? Norway is edging closer to the EU Trump’s trade war has brought Norway even closer to the EU and increased the urgency for it to make a decision about membership.

With Trump’s trade war threatening to leave Norway in the crossfire of US-EU sanctions, Norway is facing a similar moment of truth about EU membership as Finland and Sweden did with regard to NATO 3 years earlier.

I argue that it’s time to make it official - for a strong Norden in the EU

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey standing next to each other.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey will co-host a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group #UDCG at the NATO HQ in Brussels today.

ℹ️ Find the programme here: nato.int/cps/en/natoh...