Russia, Belarus escalating hybrid attacks, MEPs claim

GENEVA

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday said Russia and Belarus are escalating hybrid operations against the EU, citing repeated violations of European airspace, drone incursions and recent sabotage targeting critical infrastructure.

The debate followed Lithuania's October decision to close border crossings with Belarus after spotting smuggling balloons drifting into its airspace. Lawmakers said the balloons, along with suspected Russian drones and acts of sabotage such as last week's railway explosion in Poland, form part of a "coordinated effort" to intimidate EU societies and undermine support for Ukraine.

Several MEPs stressed that airspace violations have become routine across Europe. Juan Ignacio Zoido Alvarez, the MEP of Spain, said Russian drones are now appearing "day by day" and urged "urgent anti-drone systems in Europe, technologically functional and affordable."

Nicolae Stefanuta, the vice president of the EP, said border communities are increasingly anxious, insisting: "We need defense capabilities. We need anti drone capacities and a European approach to respond to this bullying from Russia."

Members also called for accelerated work on an EU "drone wall," cross-border detection systems and real-time intelligence sharing.

Hilde Vautmans of Belgium urged the bloc to "make sure that the drone wall can already be there by next year, under European Command, with cross border detection and jamming."

"Will this cost money, of course, but it will be a fraction of the cost that the cost of the military aircraft that have to shoot these drones down now. So we need to do more in our defense budget, and we need to work together with Ukraine colleagues," she said. "Every euro that we save today with our counter drone capacity will be paid back twice over in future."

Maria Guzenina, a lawmaker from Finland, emphasized that this is "not the time" for half measures, rather it is time for "unity, adequate financing and action."

"We must shield our cables, guard our ports, secure our skies. We must protect our people," she urged.

Victor Negrescu from Romania said that "not a square centimeter of European airspace can be breached without consequences," and safety of European citizens "cannot wait."

The railway explosion in Poland, which was described by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as "an unprecedented act of sabotage," was repeatedly cited as further evidence that hybrid attacks are expanding beyond intimidation.

Closing the debate, European Commission Vice President for Social Rights and Skills Roxana Minzatu said Europe faces "a sustained gray zone campaign" and assured lawmakers that "Europe will not be intimidated."

"Hybrid warfare is designed to stretch our systems and to test our unity, we must demonstrate that our resolve is stronger than the pressure that is applied against us. We welcome the European Parliament's clear stance that the EU's response to hybrid attacks must match the intensity, must match the severity of the attacks themselves, this principle of proportionality in deterrence is essential," Minzatu said.

She stressed that the bloc will defend every part of the union "with unity, with capability and with determination."