NATO, to defend its member states effectively, must be able to project power in a way that cannot be dismissed or underestimated. This assessment was voiced by Czech Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Karel Rzhekha, The New York Times reports.

He warned that without such demonstrable strength, the alliance could face the threat of internal collapse. According to the general, if even one NATO country came under attack and failed to receive collective support, the result would amount to what he called the «end of NATO».

General Rzhekha explained that dismantling the alliance would require only a single situation in which there was a clear need to activate collective defense under Article Five — but the mechanism failed to work. He argued that one such failure would be enough to undermine the entire structure of the alliance.

Article Five of the North Atlantic Treaty underpins NATO’s principle of collective security. It treats an attack on any member state in Europe or North America as an attack on the alliance as a whole, obliging all members to view such aggression as a direct threat to their own security.