Lithuania's NATO envoy says alliance's remit is military threats, not hybrid
Darius Jauniškis said NATO remains focused on military aggression, days after a suspected arson attack on a Starlink site in Vilnius.
Lithuania's ambassador to NATO, Darius Jauniškis, said on Tuesday that the alliance is a military organisation whose core role is responding to open military aggression, not , even as it looks at new measures after a string of incidents.
"NATO is a military alliance. First and foremost, we respond to military threats, to open aggression," Jauniškis told Lithuanian broadcaster LRT's programme "Dienos tema", speaking after a meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels that discussed hybrid attacks facing alliance members.
He said NATO had already sent anti-hybrid teams to member states that gave advice and conclusions after their visits, and said the alliance was not shirking responsibility. He declined to detail what decisions, if any, had been taken at Tuesday's ambassadors' meeting, saying only that discussions had been long and concern was high.
Jauniškis spoke days after an attempt to set fire to premises in Vilnius used by Delska, which houses Starlink satellite equipment, early on Sunday. Lithuanian politicians have linked the incident to Russia. A similar case is under investigation in Bulgaria, where antennas used to connect to the Starlink satellite network were set alight, and a fire hit a Starlink ground station in central Poland in September.
After the ambassadors' meeting, NATO said it would deploy "additional capabilities" to strengthen surveillance in the Black Sea. The announcement followed Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev's statement that a US military aircraft had begun patrols in the Black Sea after Bulgaria requested help over recent drone attacks there.
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What we know
- Darius Jauniškis, Lithuania's ambassador to NATO, said the alliance's core function is responding to military threats and open aggression, not hybrid attacks.
- He spoke after a NATO ambassadors' meeting in Brussels on Tuesday that discussed hybrid attacks against member states.
- An attempt was made to set fire to a Vilnius site housing Starlink equipment used by SpaceX early on Sunday; Lithuanian politicians have linked it to Russia.
- A similar arson case targeting Starlink antennas is under investigation in Bulgaria; a fire hit a Starlink station in Poland in September.
Why it matters for Europe
The comments highlight a gap NATO faces: member states want a collective response to sabotage and arson attacks on satellite and other infrastructure, but the alliance's own ambassador says its treaty mandate is built around Article 5 and open military aggression, not grey-zone attacks. The question matters for Lithuania, Bulgaria and Poland, which have each reported attacks on Starlink infrastructure used for connectivity, including in Ukraine.
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Questions and answers
- What did Lithuania's NATO ambassador say?
- Darius Jauniškis said NATO is a military alliance whose main role is to respond to open military aggression, not hybrid attacks, though he said NATO was not shirking responsibility for them.
- What prompted his comments?
- A NATO ambassadors' meeting in Brussels on Tuesday that discussed hybrid attacks against alliance members, days after a suspected arson attempt on a Starlink site in Vilnius.
- What other incidents were mentioned?
- A Starlink antenna arson case under investigation in Bulgaria and a fire at a Starlink ground station in Poland in September.
This article was written with AI assistance from 1 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.