NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană, whom Euronews met on the sidelines of the Alliance summit in Washington, goes even further and believes that China poses a serious threat to Europe.
China is a decisive support for Russia in its war against Ukraine. The 32 NATO countries have again underlined this at their 75th summit.
While acting cautiously, NATO has hardened its stance on Beijing over its trade with Russia, accusing it of supplying Moscow with components of so-called dual-use goods that support Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Mircea Geoana gave an interview to our correspondent Shona Murray.
Mircea Geoana: A lot of the rebuilding of the Russian armed forces is happening through China. So China is one of the main catalysts for Russia’s war against Ukraine. We see Iran, we see North Korea, we see coordination between these countries and Belarus and a few others. So we can look at that whenever we want.
But the reality is that there is a pattern of aggression that is fundamentally fueling the war. Russia is in Ukraine. So that means that China is a threat to our security. That means, of course, that they pose challenges in many other places. But for us, with the war in Europe, with China, Iran, Korea helping Russia so dramatically to wage war against Ukraine, against European security, China becomes a partner of Russia. NATO views this more severely than it did before.
Euronews: China has responded with very provocative remarks. Where will this lead us?
Mircea Geoana: I must say that the language we have adopted is also a clearer language, but also a cautious language. We are not declaring that China is our enemy. It is not. We are saying that it represents a serious challenge to European security. And that is a fact. And, of course, the fact that there is no limited partnership between Russia and China is deepening and becoming more and more complex.
Euronews: What we see in Gaza, children having their arms and legs amputated without anesthesia, starving, dozens of children being killed every day. And no criticism from the countries in the group, although they claim to promote a rules-based system. Is this not a double standard in this area?
Mircea Geoana: At NATO, we are not involved in this conflict. That is why, as an institution, we are relatively moderate in what we say. But we see the calls from allies, from the United States to the few allies that have recognized the State of Palestine in various forms, who are basically asking for one thing: that the war stop.
That there be some form of cessation of hostilities, an exchange, that we bring back the hostages and try to avoid an escalation in the Middle East, which would be another big problem for all of us.