First Minister Alex Salmond must end speculation that the SNP will withdraw its opposition to Nato "or pay the price", according to one of his own MSPs.
The SNP`s John Finnie used social networking site Twitter to highlight an article calling on Mr Salmond to personally rule out a u-turn on the party`s long-standing aim to take an independent Scotland out of the military alliance.
Echoing the article's title, Mr Finnie tweeted: "Salmond must end this Nato speculation - or pay the price." He described the article as "thought provoking" and appended it with a link to other anti-Nato posts under the hashtag #notonato.
An SNP spokeswoman said the matters raised by Mr Finnie are expected to be debated at the party conference in the autumn.
The article cited recent quotes by SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson that the party is "looking at the policy options" regarding Nato.
It added: "After Trump, Murdoch and all the rest, Salmond must send a clear message to the constituency that put him in power making clear that the SNP is not selling out its principles and tacking to the right.
"The simplest and most immediate way to do that is for Salmond to come out in public now and make an unequivocal statement to nip this pro-Nato stuff in the bud."
A Scottish Government spokesman said its policy on Nato remains the same as that set out in the Your Scotland, Your Voice white paper on independence from 2009.
It stated: "Scotland, and this is the stance favoured by the SNP, could co-operate with international alliances such as Nato through its Partnership for Peace programme while not being a member."
Commenting on Mr Finnie's tweet, an SNP spokeswoman said: "Given that we still await any clarity from the Westminster Government about the implications for Scotland of their defence and security review, the expectation is that these matters will be debated at SNP annual conference in the autumn."
