Washington. September 16. INTERFAX-Candidate for US permanent Representative to NATO Julie Smith said that Russia will remain the main threat to Europe and NATO in the near future.
"Russia continues to pose the main geopolitical threat to the Euro-Atlantic region, and will be the main military threat to the alliance in the foreseeable future and, of course, in the next decade," she said at a hearing in the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
She noted that after Russia "invaded Ukraine in 2014, NATO has done a lot," but due to the fact that "Russia's aggression continues," more work needs to be done.
She believes that Russia should be "held accountable" for all its actions, including the invasion of the airspace of NATO countries and cyber attacks.
Smith called the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline a "bad deal" and a "geopolitical project". According to her, it "undermines the energy security of Europe and, first of all, of Ukraine," and can also become "another challenge to the security of Europe" as a whole.
Smith promised that if she becomes a permanent representative to NATO, she will work together with her partners to prevent negative consequences from putting the gas pipeline into operation.
The candidate for permanent representative said that if she is confirmed in this post, she will work together with her allies to develop "a new strategic concept, a roadmap defining the future direction of NATO."
