POLITICO: Europe plans measures against Russia amid drone, agent attacks

Russian drones and agents are striking NATO countries, and Europe is now taking steps that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago: planning a counterstrike.

According to two senior European government officials and three EU diplomats, quoted by POLITICO, ideas range from joint offensive cyber operations against Russia and faster, coordinated identification of hybrid attacks with direct attribution to Moscow, to sudden NATO-led military exercises.

“The Russians are constantly testing the limits — what is the response, how far can we go?” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told the outlet. “A more ‘proactive response is needed.’ And it’s not talking that sends a signal — it’s doing,” she added.

In recent weeks and months, Russian drones have flown over Poland and Romania, while mysterious drones have caused chaos at airports and military bases across the continent. Other incidents include GPS jamming, fighter jet and naval incursions, and an explosion on a key Polish railway route carrying military aid to Ukraine.

“Overall, Europe and the alliance must ask themselves how long we are willing to tolerate this type of hybrid warfare ... [and] whether we should consider becoming more active ourselves in this area,” Germany’s State Secretary for Defence Florian Hahn told Welt TV last week.

Hybrid attacks are nothing new for Russia, which has targeted political enemies in the UK, sabotaged arms depots in Central Europe, funded far-right parties to destabilise the EU, waged social media campaigns, and interfered in elections in countries like Romania and Moldova.

But the current wave of attacks is unprecedented in scale. Globsec, a Prague-based think tank, counted over 110 sabotage acts in Europe between January and July, mainly in Poland and France, linked to Moscow.

Frequent provocations are shifting Europe's response. After Russian sabotage of a rail line connecting Warsaw and Kyiv, Poland deployed 10,000 troops to protect key infrastructure, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk accusing Moscow of “state terrorism.”

Countries like Germany and Romania are updating laws to allow authorities to shoot down drones over airports and sensitive sites.

National security services also operate in legal grey zones, with allies from Denmark to the Czech Republic already conducting offensive cyber operations.

The UK reportedly hacked ISIS networks in 2017 to monitor an early-stage drone program.

By Jeyhun Aghazada