President Dan says does not see Russia capable of attacking NATO

President Nicusor Dan believes that the chances of the military conflict expanding beyond Ukraine's borders are extremely low.In an interview on Thursday with Digi 24 private television broadcaster, he said that Russia is not currently capable of attacking NATO.Nicusor Dan noted that the Russian Federation has been waging an 'informational war' against the Western world since 2014, attempting, where possible, to install favourable leadership or to 'sow distrust' among the population towards the Western democratic model. The president noted that the communication and technological tools used for this purpose are 'highly sophisticated.'"Russia, with a so-so economy, is clearly trying to compensate for its military shortcomings by targeting the population and influencing decisions that, in a democratic society, are made through democratic vote. So, all of this is backed by a propaganda narrative that says things like: ?we have nothing against you', ?why don't you leave Ukraine alone, after all, it is our internal matter'. That is how I interpret it. In no way, at least at this point, do I see Russia as capable of attacking NATO," the president said.He said that the chances of the conflict expanding 'beyond Ukraine's borders are extremely low.' In this context, he emphasised that European and Western countries have demonstrated their determination to defend themselves.'As soon as those 19-20 drones entered Polish airspace, there was a NATO meeting on the matter the next day at 10:00. A few days later, the defence ministers of NATO countries developed a plan to strengthen defence on the eastern flank. So, we are in a situation where we need to deter, and we are doing that very well, all of us together,' Nicusor Dan said.He noticed a strengthening of European solidarity in defending the existing democratic model.'Of course, when you send drones, or even, as in the case of Estonia, aircraft on foreign territory, you obviously risk an incident that could escalate. What is important, however, is this solidarity. And, in fact, I do see a strengthening of European solidarity. The European Union has often been questioned over how it functions... Now, under this pressure from Russia, I see - both publicly and in discussions among political leaders - a determination to defend this world, this valuable achievement we have built,' Nicusor Dan said.He noted that Romania is in a good position in terms of cybersecurity, but is 'one step behind Russia' when it comes to countering disinformation.'There are two areas of action in the online space. One is in so-called cybersecurity, because, as you'll see in the same report from the Public Prosecutor's Office, during the election period there were 80,000 cyberattacks on various Romanian state institutions. And here, Romania is doing well, we are cooperating very well with our European and Western partners. We are all trying to help Moldova as well, which is also under pressure on its information networks. On the other hand, when it comes to disinformation, all those things we have all seen: fake websites, seemingly innocent sites that you click on and they redirect you to copies of your own site, for example, spreading all sorts of nonsense, here, I would say that technologically we are a step behind Russia, and we must succeed in defending ourselves in real time,' Nicusor Dan explained. (Photo:https://www.presidency.ro/)