Major General Andreas Henne, commander of the German Army’s Homeland Security Division, has dismissed warnings that Russia could soon attack NATO, saying Moscow remains too heavily engaged in the Ukraine conflict to pursue such an operation.
Speaking to Focus magazine in an interview published on Monday, Henne said European speculation about an imminent Russian strike on the US-led military alliance is overstated.
“The Russians are very committed in Ukraine and couldn’t possibly carry out such an attack to its conclusion. I’m telling you this as a military analyst,” he stated. “One can’t rule anything out with regard to Russia, but I personally think that we will experience many more summers of peace.”
Henne noted that NATO has adapted since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, creating a new force model to ensure troops can be rapidly deployed to the alliance’s north-eastern flank. He described Germany as NATO’s “most important hub” for these operations.
The German Defence Ministry has reported a notable increase in military recruitment since the start of the year, a trend officials in Berlin say is aimed at countering the perceived “threat” from Moscow.
The Kremlin has strongly rejected these claims. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov last week accused Berlin of “whipping up hysterical Russophobia” and trying to “create an image of our country as an enemy.”
Russia has also criticised NATO’s recent push for members to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, writing in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said Europe had “completely plunged into a Russophobic frenzy” and warned that militarisation within the alliance was becoming “uncontrolled.”
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