BRUSSELS ā NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the organizationās security capabilities have not been diminished by the coronavirus, amid suspicion that Russia might try to use the impact of disease to probe the military allianceās defenses.
NATO acknowledges that cases of the disease have surfaced among personnel deployed near Russiaās border as well as in its training operation in Afghanistan. Wargames have been scaled down and the coronavirus has forced the 30-country alliance to cut staffing and meetings at its Brussels headquarters.
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Russia, meanwhile, has been conducting drills that its defense ministry says are aimed at checking troop readiness to deal with any contagion. Britainās navy said last week that its vessels had been shadowing Russian warships āafter unusually high levels of activity in the English Channel and North Sea.ā
āWe of course see significant military activities close to NATO borders with a new exercise in the western military district of Russia,ā Stoltenberg told reporters. āWe have seen significant Russian presence in the North Sea.ā
āWe have made some adjustments to exercises. We have cancelled some exercises, we have adjusted other exercises, but that doesnāt undermine our operational readiness. We continue to patrol the skies and defend our borders and continue our missions and operations,ā he said.
Stoltenbergās remarks came on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, to be held by secure video-conference for the first time in the U.S.-led organizationās 70-year history, where the impact of the coronavirus will dominate discussion.
While the disease is hitting all its member countries and could yet raise security concerns, NATO itself has no front-line role to play against its spread, apart from coordinating and supporting national efforts with logistical, transport and communications help.