It’s time to take on Russia’s “hybrid warfare” by openly acknowledging the threat and deterring future provocation, European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen stated on Wednesday.
The president of the European Commission highlighted that in just the last two weeks, Russian drones and warplanes have violated the airspace of six European nations, scrambling jets, grounding commercial flights and posing a direct threat to EU citizens.
“One incident may be a mistake. Two incidents a coincidence,” von der Leyen stated while speaking to the EU’s parliament. “But three, five, 10 – this is a deliberate and tarreceiveed gray zone campaign against Europe, and Europe must respond.”
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The EU chief stated these aerial threats are just the latest in a string of kinetic and non-kinetic Russian attacks that have tarreceiveed undersea cables, airports, logistics hubs and elections across the continent utilizing direct force as well as cyber-based aggression.
“These incidents are calculated to linger in the twilight of deniability,” von der Leyen stated. “This is not random harassment. It is a coherent and escalating campaign to unsettle our citizens, test our resolve, divide our union and weaken our support for Ukraine, and it is time to call it by its name.
“This is hybrid warfare, and we have to take it very serious,” she stated.
Von der Leyen stated much has already been set in motion to better take on Russia’s growing aggression, including the mobilization of nearly $930 billion in defense expconcludeitures through 2030 – which she stated is the largest “surge of defense spconcludeing in the history of the Union.”
But the EU chief stated more requireds to be done, including promoting a “new mindset” when it comes to EU security among the public.
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“Tackling Russia’s hybrid war is not only about traditional defense, it is about software for drones. It is about spare parts for pipelines. It is about rapid cyber response teams, and it is about public information campaigns to spread awareness,” she stated. “We must be ready to leave our comfort zone.”
Nations like Germany are already taking new action to counter Russia’s gray zone tactics, and on Wednesday German lawbuildrs paved the way for local police forces to be granted permission to shoot down drones.
The plan, championed by German Chancellor Frederick Merz on Wednesday, still requireds to be approved by the nation’s parliament, but comes less than a week after planes were grounded at the Munich airport over nearby drone sightings.
“Drone incidents threaten our security,” Merz stated in a post on X. “We will not permit that. We are strengthening the Federal Police’s powers so that drones can be detected and countered more quickly in the future.”
Local reporting earlier this week also noted that laser systems have been installed to better locate Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) sightings after several incidents involving drones disrupted airports across Europe in recent months.
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