Politico: Europe mulls active response to Russia's hybrid aggression

Europe is thinking about how to respond to the actions of Russian agents and the flight of Russian drones into NATO countries. This was reported by the newspaper Politico citing five unnamed interlocutors with knowledge of the matter.

The ideas range from joint offensive cyber operations against Russia and faster and more coordinated identification of hybrid attacks by quickly pointing the finger at Moscow to a NATO-led surprise military exercise, two European government officials and three European Union diplomats said.

"The Russians are constantly testing the limits of what is permissible: what will be the response, how far can we go? A more active response is needed. And the signal is sent not by words, but by actions," said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Baiba Braže.

In recent weeks and months, Russian drones have been flying over Poland and Romania, and mysterious drones have been wreaking havoc at airports and military bases across the continent.

Other incidents include GPS jamming, incursions by fighter jets and warships, and an explosion on a key Polish railroad track that transports military aid to Ukraine, the media outlet recalled.

"Overall, Europe and the Alliance have to ask ourselves how long we are willing to tolerate this type of hybrid warfare... [and] whether we should consider being more active in this area ourselves," German Secretary of State for Defense Florian Hahn said last week.

The newspaper noted that the scale and frequency of the current attacks are unprecedented. Globsec, a Prague-based think tank, estimated that between January and July, more than 110 acts of sabotage and attempted attacks were carried out in Europe, mainly in Poland and France, by people with ties to Moscow.

So far, the response has been to strengthen defense. After Russian military drones were shot down over Poland, NATO announced that it would be strengthening its unmanned and air defense on its eastern flank.

• In February, the WSJ reported that Russian spy services there is a new shadowy unit that targets the West and conducts covert attacks across Europe and elsewhere.
• On October 17, Grozev stated that Russia has changed its tactics abroad after a series of exposures of its spies and expulsions of diplomats following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.