European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised a European response to what she described as Russian hybrid attacks, ahead of talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels today.
The two are due to make statements to the press before the meeting at the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters.
Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said the short-notice bilateral would also take place in the context of European and NATO efforts to deepen defence co-operation.
A NATO official told Euronews the talks would centre mainly on closer co-ordination against hybrid threats.
The meeting follows the German Government’s decision to blame Russia for a suspected drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport on August 4.
German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said police investigations, the pattern of the offence and intelligence findings established Russian responsibility. He said those controlling the drone had acted on behalf of Russian State entities, without naming them.
Dobrindt did not publish the underlying evidence and raised the country’s threat assessment from “general” to “high”.
Foreign minister Johann Wadephul summoned the Russian ambassador and ordered the closure of Moscow’s consulate general in Bonn by September 18.
Berlin said it would tighten entry controls for Russian nationals, seek further EU sanctions listings and press for tougher action against Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers.
Von der Leyen said on X on September 1 that she had spoken to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and that the EU stood in full solidarity with Berlin.
“Hybrid attacks will not go without a clear response,” she said, adding that further sanctions would be prepared by foreign ministers meeting under Ireland’s Council presidency.
Rutte said the alliance stood with Germany and welcomed the measures announced in Berlin. “The evidence is clear,” he said, without setting out what it consisted of.
EU foreign ministers are gathering informally in County Wicklow, eastern Ireland, on September 1-2 in the format known as Gymnich, chaired by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
Reports have said the Commission’s next sanctions package would target about 1,600 additional Russian individuals and entities, with approval by member states expected in October.
The German announcement came as Romania and Estonia reported separate drone incursions on September 1 and police found improvised explosive devices at a substation in Brandenburg serving the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant. No attribution has been made for those incidents.
Russia has rejected the accusations. President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Bishkek, suggested the evidence had been fabricated and called the German response a serious mistake.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would answer what she described as an anti-Russian move.
