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Boris Johnson tasked security force to plan a raid on a vaccine plant in the Netherlands
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023
214 points (96.5% liked)
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Wouldn't this invoke NATO against the UK and demand a lot of reparations?
I assume you mean Article 5, and no, yes, maybe, but probably no.
Article 5's requirement is that the members convene to discuss a response to an attack, not an obligation to attack.
Furthermore, this sounds more like an even dumber dumb Watergate, but with arguably, a moral justification i.e. covert burglary, maybe even armed robbery, for vaccines contracted to the UK.
Article 42.7 of the EU Charta would also apply and is a bit more direct:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/sede/dv/sede200612mutualdefsolidarityclauses_/sede200612mutualdefsolidarityclauses_en.pdf
It is not armed robbery when the military is sent to another country. war is ultimately always about ressources, so you could argue every war to just be an armed robbery gone wrong.
If someone sends their military to another coubtry without this countries explicit consent it is an act of war.
You can semantically argue anything you want, but ultimately I can't imagine any scenario where this would have been an actual war, or even resembling one.
If the goal was to seize assets contained within a one, or just several buildings, the most likely way this would have played out would have been covert foreign intelligence teams, not an SAS commando raid with a bodycount.
Would it have been incredibly dumb, and probably end up with the intelligence officers/assets arrested? Sure.
Would it have been anything like a HVT snatch and grab in Afghanistan? No. Just no.
Like I said, an even dumber, dumb Watergate.
Yes I meant article 5 but did not remember the number ๐๐. Thanks!
Article 5 has been invoked once, the US invoked it during 9/11. They asked for some extra air reconnaissance around the middle east, and basically to have allies be ready for joint action that never materialized. Article 5 is not an immediate declaration of war or anything.
I always thought ISAF was the NATO 5 action.
I must admit I didnโt really pay attention to the legalities back then though.
Nah, not if the UK calls it the Leiden Invasion Act /s
they called it "special operation"