维尔纽斯——9月23日，就在北约战机击落一架从白俄罗斯侵入立陶宛领空的无人机一周后，一架从加里宁格勒起飞的俄罗斯军用直升机短暂闯入了波兰领空。这两次事件均非个例。
VILNIUS - On Sept. 23, just a week after NATO aircraft shot down a drone that had entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus, a Russian military helicopter flying out of Kaliningrad briefly breached Polish airspace. Neither intrusion was an isolated episode.
层出不穷的安全事件表明，俄罗斯对乌克兰的侵略行径正日益对北约边境构成威胁。
A growing catalogue of security incidents shows that the Kremlin’s war of aggression against Ukraine is pressing ever more ominously on NATO’s borders.
虽然看到北约迅速出动战机拦截并摧毁无人机令人稍感安心，但此类越界事件频发却引出了一个棘手问题：欧洲与北约将如何应对这些挑衅行为？
As reassuring as it was to see NATO scramble fighters to intercept and destroy the drone, the broader pattern of encroachments raises a difficult question: What will Europe and NATO do about these provocations?
目前北约的防御能力虽已显著提升，却始终不愿为俄罗斯的侵略行径付出相应代价。这种威慑失效现象正是欧洲安全问题的核心所在。
NATO has become increasingly capable of defending against them, but it has been much less willing to impose costs on Russia for its aggression. This failure of deterrence goes to the heart of Europe’s security problem.
一方面，爱沙尼亚、拉脱维亚、立陶宛、波兰和罗马尼亚等北约前沿国家正积极应对俄罗斯的军事及混合式威胁，大力投入防空反导系统、反无人机装置、网络防御体系、关键基础设施保护及民众应急准备工作。
On one hand, NATO’s frontline states, like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, are responding to Russian military and hybrid threats, as well as investing heavily in air and missile defense, counterdrone systems, cyber resilience, critical infrastructure and civil preparedness.
北约也强化了东部防线，欧洲各国更是在经历数十年的投入不足后开始重建军事力量。
NATO has reinforced its eastern flank and European governments are rebuilding military capabilities after decades of underinvestment.
然而正如我在大西洋理事会最新报告中指出的那样，一个长期存在的缺陷始终存在：各成员国采取的应对措施仍以防御与被动应对为主。
But, as I show in a new Atlantic Council report, there is a persistent gap: NATO members’ response remains overwhelmingly defensive and reactive.