Before the summit on Monday: Stoltenberg: NATO wants to extend the duty of assistance to space

At its summit, NATO wants to make it clear that it can also declare an alliance case in the event of attacks in space.

"I expect the heads of state and government to decide that a serious attack on our satellites or other capacities in space can trigger the alliance case," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the news magazine "Spiegel".

The same should apply if an ally is attacked from space.

The NATO members had already decided in 2019 to make space the fifth operational area of ​​the military alliance alongside the areas of ground, air, sea and cyberspace.

Whether the alliance also applied to space remained a gray area.

Because Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty actually only defines it as an armed attack “in Europe or North America”.

"We will not station weapons in space"

Now the alliance wants to dispel any doubts here at the alliance summit on Monday.

“The same would apply to space as to land, water, in the air and in cyberspace,” Stoltenberg told “Spiegel”.

"An attack on one is an attack on all - and can be answered by everyone."

However, Stoltenberg did not want to explain in too much detail when this could be the case in space.

"Leaving the exact threshold unclear is part of the deterrent," he said.

And NATO is not planning an armament in space.

"We will not station weapons in space."

At the NATO summit next Monday, according to Stoltenberg, a new strategy for defending against cyber attacks is to be adopted.

The aim is to ensure that you have strong technical skills as well as suitable military planning and political consultations, the Norwegian said at a press conference in Brussels on Friday.

It should be recognized that cyberspace is contested.

The massive hacker attacks on the German Bundestag and the federal data network are an example of dangerous cyber activities.

Russian intelligence agents are held responsible for them.

The alliance states had already decided in 2014 that a cyber attack could theoretically also trigger Article 5 on collective defense.

Now the summit will send a clear signal that NATO is determined to defend itself just as effectively in space as in all other areas, Stoltenberg announced in Brussels on Friday.

The upcoming NATO summit will be the first with the new US President Joe Biden. At the summit meeting there should also be decisions on the reform initiative “NATO 2030”. In addition, it is planned to address the perceived aggressive politics of Russia and the security consequences of the rise of China.