“Every inch of the European Union must be protected.” This was the idea conveyed this Wednesday, October 8, by the President of the European Commission, in a debate on critical infrastructures in the European Parliament. Ursula von der Leyen warned of the dangers of the “hybrid war” launched by Russia, with the sending of drones into the airspace of several European countries.
“Something new and dangerous is happening in our skies: in the last two weeks, MiG fighters have violated Estonian airspace and drones have flown over critical locations in Belgium, Poland, Romania, Denmark and Germany. […] Together we will preserve peace wherever it is threatened, [mas] make no mistake. This is part of a worrying pattern of growing threats”, said Ursula von der Leyen before MEPs, also speaking of cut submarine cables, infrastructure targets of cyberattacks and elections attacked by “swarms of evil influences”.
For the president of the European Commission, “one incident can be a mistake, two a coincidence”. “But three, five, 10? These are deliberate and targeted campaigns against Europe, in a gray area and Europe must respond. We must investigate all incidents and we must not be afraid to attribute responsibility because every square centimeter of our territory must be protected”, he defended.
For Ursula von der Leyen these incidents are not “random harassment”, but rather part of “a coherent and growing campaign to disrupt our citizens, test our resolve, divide our Union and weaken our support for Ukraine”. Therefore, he argued: “It’s time to call things by their names: this is a hybrid war”, he stressed.
The EU is beginning to prepare measures such as creating a ‘wall of drones’ on the eastern European flank to prevent Russian incursions.
In Germany, the police must be given the power to shoot down these types of drones in the event of a violation of German airspace. The law, which still has to be approved in parliament, comes after Minique airport was paralyzed for several hours last week due to the presence of drones, allegedly on reconnaissance flights.