End of INF Treaty to split EU and NATO?

The document, prepared by staff of the European Parliament, notes that if the INF Treaty is abrogated, Europe faces a range of stark choices that, at worst, according to experts, could split the NATO alliance or even EU member states.

The experts do not rule out that some "EU member states could opt for a deployment race with Russia, fuelled by U.S. missiles", in a return to a pre-INF Treaty scenario. According to the authors, the "military risk of this option would be significant." "Russia would target any European countries that agree to host U.S. missiles," the document says.

Alternatively, EU member states could "jointly reject the deployment of US missiles", a move that would "further strain the transatlantic alliance", and potentially make Europe "subject to Russian intimidation, even though the overall balance of power in Europe is still in NATO's favour," the report says.

In addition, according to the experts, some EU Members could opt to deploy U.S. missiles, while others could refuse to host U.S. weapons, thus "dividing the EU and potentially splitting the NATO alliance."