French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that Russia could stage an attack in France like the failed drone strike on Leipzig/Halle airport in August, though Moscow’s responsibility for the German incident has yet to be proven.
Asked in a joint interview with TF1 and France 2 on September 24 whether such an attack was possible, he answered yes. He argued that Moscow now regarded Europe as Ukraine’s strategic depth because Europeans were helping Kyiv while Ukraine struck refineries and other sites inside Russia.
Macron said Europe had been under attack for years through disinformation and cyber operations. After Leipzig, he said, this was no longer hybrid warfare but war, involving hostile acts capable of killing.
On August 4 an explosives-laden drone was found beside a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft at Leipzig/Halle, a hub for military supplies to Ukraine and for NATO airlift operations. The detonator failed and police defused the device.
The German Government formally blamed Russia on September 1, with interior minister Alexander Dobrindt citing police findings, the pattern of the attack and intelligence. Moscow has denied involvement and President Vladimir Putin accused Berlin of fabricating evidence.
More than three weeks later, that finding has yet to be tested in court. Investigators have identified two suspects, a Belarusian with a Russian passport and a Russian holding a Latvian one, but both remain at large and no charges have been brought.
Much of the material cited by Berlin, including DNA traces and intelligence from partner services, has not been published. Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Markus Frohnmaier said the government had to present very concrete evidence if it was to take political measures on that basis.
German officials have pointed at foreign powers too quickly before. Brandenburg’s interior minister said foreign involvement could not be ruled out in recent sabotage of the power grid, before police arrested a domestic climate activist.
Macron also denied that the CIA had warned French intelligence of a Russian drone attack from the sea against southern France. Spanish newspaper El Mundo had reported that Spain, France and Italy were alerted to possible strikes by drones launched from ships in the Mediterranean, a claim Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto called unfounded.
Macron said France had raised its level of preparedness, with sensitive civilian, military and defence-industry sites given extra protection region by region. The measures follow his order on September 18 for a plan to shield critical infrastructure from Russian drone and cyber attacks.
He nonetheless refused to call Russia an enemy, saying he would not take part in escalation. Moscow, he argued, wanted Europeans to use warlike language to justify its own mobilisation, while it multiplied hostile and sometimes criminal acts against European countries.
