Brussels, 22 September, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – European governments are strengthening defences against cyberattacks, sabotage, drone incidents and threats to critical infrastructure as NATO and European Union officials warn that Russian hybrid activities are intensifying. The developments have sharpened the Europe hybrid war debate over whether the continent is already experiencing sustained hostile action below the threshold of conventional armed conflict.
Europe hybrid war concerns grow over Russian activity
NATO describes Russia as its most significant and direct security threat and says Moscow is conducting an aggressive hybrid campaign against allied countries.
The alliance lists critical infrastructure sabotage, cyberattacks, electronic interference, disinformation, political influence, border provocations and other activities among the threats facing its members.
Concerns have increased following incidents including an attempted drone attack at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport. Germany attributed the incident to Russia, an allegation Moscow rejected. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte subsequently described the episode as a Russian hybrid attack and expressed solidarity with Germany.
France has also stepped up its response. President Emmanuel Macron instructed his government this month to prepare stronger measures for protecting critical infrastructure as French authorities warned that Russian hybrid threats were intensifying.
NATO warns that hybrid threats are testing Europe
NATO Military Committee chair Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone issued a direct warning following meetings in Copenhagen on 19 September.
“Russia’s reckless behaviour over the last weeks and months — including airspace violations, drone incidents, and hybrid activities — continues to test Allied resolve.”
He added that Russia’s investment in cognitive warfare was intended to undermine trust and weaken allied unity, saying: “This threat is real.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used similarly strong language in her State of the Union address on 16 September.
“Hybrid threats facing Europe are less and less hybrid and less and less threats.”
She cited “cyberattacks and sabotage, arson and drone incursions” and proposed a European counter-hybrid playbook for incidents that threaten national security while remaining below the level of armed aggression.
NATO distinguishes hybrid attacks from conventional war
Despite the escalating warnings, NATO has not declared itself at war with Russia. An alliance official said on 30 August that NATO saw no imminent threat of a direct Russian attack, while acknowledging increased hybrid activity across Europe.
Russia also disputes the Western assessment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 21 September that Moscow posed no threat to France or other European countries and rejected allegations of intimidation and destabilisation.
Europe strengthens protection of critical infrastructure
European governments are responding by increasing physical and cyber resilience. Lithuania, for example, is constructing a fortified electricity substation near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave designed to withstand threats including explosive drones.
NATO’s updated resilience requirements also call for stronger protection of essential transport, communications and other civilian systems against sabotage, cyberattacks and hybrid threats.
The current evidence therefore points to an intensifying Russian hybrid campaign, according to NATO and EU authorities, rather than a formally declared Russia-NATO war. European policymakers are now focused on defining coordinated responses to hostile activity that remains below the threshold of conventional armed conflict.
