The defense alliance plans to improve protection against any use of biological weapons. NATO Secretary-General warns of possible attackers.

Due to the consequences of the Wuhan virus pandemic, NATO is planning to strengthen its efforts in the field of biological weapons defense. As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the Wuhan virus was not created in the laboratory, but it did show the threats associated with the use of biological warfare agents. That is why the defense against danger must be strengthened.

In addition, one is about to improve the exchange of intelligence knowledge to prevent possible attacks with biological weapons, stated Mr. Stoltenberg. These weapons, like chemical weapons, are banned under international law, but we have to be prepared for their use because we know that these weapons are still around, emphasised NATO Secretary-General. They could be used by state actors, but also by terrorists.

Mr Stoltenberg did not rule out the possibility that a widespread bioweapons attack with hundreds of thousands of dead could also result in a retaliatory strike with conventional or nuclear weapons. NATO has no prohibited weapons in its arsenal, but we have a whole range of capabilities to respond appropriately, he informed. In addition to smallpox and anthrax pathogens, military tularemia, influenza and other military viruses have also been considered possible biological weapons for years.

Some Western military analysts estimate that the threat of the outbreak of military sickness is comparable to the one during the worst times of the Cold War. It is the consensus of many strategists, that Communist China and Putin's Russia would not hesitate to use any of these deadly weapons when suits their purposes. Xi Jinping and his regime are being compared to Hitler as the danger he constitutes to world peace.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres had already warned of the danger of terrorist attacks with biological weapons in July of this year. The pandemic had shown that preparations for the disaster might not be enough. He also called for the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons, which came into force in 1975, to be strengthened.

Deadly crush

Researchers have repeatedly shown that viruses can be artificially made more dangerous in the laboratory. The background to such experiments are efforts to be better prepared for the consequences of natural virus mutations. At the same time, however, they also show what consequences it could have if, for example, terrorists were to gain access to such capabilities.