The spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zajarova, stated this Saturday that, in her view, the European continent would be better protected if the NATO did not exist, a military bloc that she described as a "toothache."
"If NATO did not exist, if the alliance had not performed and continued to perform the function that it performs, security in Europe would probably be much greater," Zajarova said during a media appearance.
In her remarks, the Foreign Affairs representative reiterated that "NATO is precisely the organization that, like a toothache, has weakened Europe’s immune system in its western and central part and throughout the world by demanding and dragging along a colossal amount of resources for reactive measures," emphasizing that the alliance consumes resources which, according to Moscow, could be devoted to other purposes.
Zajarova’s comments are framed as her response to statements by the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who this same Saturday rejected opening a debate with Moscow about the security model on the continent. "We don’t need to discuss that. It already exists," the German leader said when asked about the European security architecture.
The Russian spokesperson insisted that NATO was created not for stability purposes, but for purposes that she described as "aggressive and expansionist." In her view, the Atlantic alliance serves "to perpetrate coups d’état in various countries, to push color revolutions, to achieve economic expansion and, among other things, to get involved in various schemes for the benefit of those who benefit from these policies within NATO."