The European Union will conduct exercises to test the mechanism of mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the member states against the backdrop of tension in relations with NATO.
Source: agency Bloombergconveys “European truth“
Details: According to a senior EU official, these exercises will simulate the decision-making process in case one of the member states turns to the rest of the EU for military support.
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The training will take place with the participation of EU ambassadors in Brussels, and then at a meeting of defense ministers in May in Cyprus, the interlocutor said.
This topic will also be discussed at an informal summit of EU leaders next week in Cyprus.
The effort underscores how Europe is responding to a breakdown in transatlantic ties following Donald Trump’s threats to withdraw from NATO
According to Article 42.7 of the Treaty on the EU, if a member state becomes “a victim of armed aggression on its territory”, other member states have an “obligation to provide assistance and assistance with all the means at their disposal.”
The publication notes that this wording is tougher than Article 5 of NATO, which stipulates that in the event of an armed attack on one of the Alliance members, the other members undertake to take “such measures as they deem necessary”, including, but not limited to, the use of armed force.
However, the EU does not have the military power and NATO structures to back it up. The EU provision has been activated only once – by France after the 2015 terrorist attacks. At the beginning of 2026, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on the EU to implement this provision.
Cyprus, which is not a NATO member because of a long-standing conflict with NATO-member Turkey, is particularly interested in strengthening the EU’s mutual assistance clause after an Iranian drone struck a British military base on the island in early May.
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