A Common Answer to Hybrid Attacks
European Union defense ministers want the bloc to forge a joint response to what they describe as a growing wave of Russian hybrid attacks. The subject dominated the Foreign Affairs Council meeting held Monday in Brussels, where ministers focused their discussion on an Emergency Security Protocol. The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, told reporters that the protocol should be understood as part of a broader strategy against hybrid attacks.[S1]
The mechanism was put forward by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her State of the Union speech earlier this month. She presented it as Europe's own version of NATO's Article 4, the clause that allows a member to request consultations with allies when it believes its security is under threat. The proposal now sits at the center of the ministers' deliberations as they look for a coordinated way to answer hostile actions that fall short of conventional military confrontation.[S1]
