EU ministers plan hybrid threat response amid warnings of Russian sabotage

The EU is drawing up a new mechanism to coordinate its response to Russian sabotage and other hybrid attacks, as European officials warn that Moscow is planning further operations across the continent.

European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday have been tasked with developing the bloc’s so-called “emergency security protocol,” designed to help member states coordinate their responses quickly when a hybrid threat is identified.

“We need to be vigilant because we see in the intelligence that Russia is planning more sabotage acts,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said as she arrived for the talks.

Kallas said such attacks were aimed at European democracy, seeking to divide communities and intimidate them into withdrawing support for Ukraine.

“We have to keep this in mind while standing up to these threats,” she said.

The mechanism, spearheaded by Kallas and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is intended to sit at the heart of the EU’s response to hybrid warfare.

Read more: Euronews