EU, NATO vow action against threats posed by Belarus, Russia

NATO head Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen made the pledges during a visit to Latvia and Lithuania ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Latvia this week.

EU and NATO leaders have vowed to counter “hybrid threats” on visits to Lithuania and Latvia dominated by the Belarus migrant crisis and Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine.

“To respond to such events, it is important that the European Union and NATO work hand in hand,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said at a joint news conference with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Lithuanian leaders on Sunday in Vilnius.

“We discussed how we could step up our joint work between NATO and the EU,” said Stoltenberg.

Stoltenberg also repeated his call on Russia to “de-escalate” its military build-up on the border with Ukraine and warned of “consequences” if it used force.