NATO must be ready for the possibility of a deadly Russian hybrid attack, Poland’s foreign minister has warned.
His comments come amid mounting concern over the Kremlin’s expanding sabotage campaign across Europe.
Radosław Sikorski told the FT that the risk of someone being killed was increasing as Moscow stepped up operations aimed at disrupting and destabilising European societies.
However, he acknowledged that the alliance would need to make a political “judgment” over how to respond.
“The question is what constitutes an attack, a cross-border attack, and as long as it’s property… it’s one thing, but if people start dying, then we’ll have to have another very serious conversation at NATO,” he said.
“When will we make a judgment that the Russians have come too far? Because it is a judgment. You know, there is no agreed prior definition.”
Sikorski did not specify how the Western alliance should respond if someone were killed. He pointed out, however, that Poland and Estonia had invoked NATO’s Article 4 — which allows members to request high-level consultations — after Russian drones and fighter jets breached their airspace, suggesting a fatal incident would require a stronger response.
Article 5 — NATO’s mutual defence clause — says that an armed attack against one ally is to be treated as an attack against all members. Each country must then take whatever action it considers necessary to assist the ally under attack.
Berlin said last month that Moscow had orchestrated a drone attack on Leipzig/Halle airport, near Ukrainian cargo planes, in August
The explosive device did not detonate, apparently because its detonator was faulty, while investigators believe a second drone collided with a nearby cargo aircraft
Russian President Vladimir Putin has intensified a sabotage campaign across Europe in an effort to weaken support for Ukraine
NATO’s Article 5 has been invoked only once. The United States requested it following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda.
Poland and neighbouring countries have grown increasingly alarmed by a series of cyber attacks, airspace violations and attempted acts of sabotage across Europe. They regard the incidents as part of Vladimir Putin’s campaign to erode Western support for Ukraine.
In July, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crashed into a field in eastern Poland and exploded, leaving a crater measuring 10 metres (33 feet) across near the village of Tarnawa Kolonia.
European defence companies are also facing a growing threat. Officials from five European intelligence agencies told the FT that senior executives have been targeted for assassination by Russian operatives.
German intelligence agencies have recently warned that the Kremlin’s “shadow war” is entering a new and potentially deadly phase.
Berlin said last month that Moscow was behind a drone attack on Leipzig/Halle airport in August, near Ukrainian cargo aircraft.
The explosive device failed to go off because its detonator was apparently defective. Investigators also suspect that a second drone struck a cargo aircraft close to the airport.
A third drone was reportedly discovered near the airport 10 days later.
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Sikorski urged European governments to take tougher measures against attacks attributed to Moscow. He called for Russian consulates to be closed, Kremlin diplomats to face restrictions on travel within their host countries and the overall number of Russian diplomats to be reduced, as Poland has already done.
‘I’ve run out of consulates, but others still have consulates,’ he said.
A forensic technician works alongside a bomb-disposal robot near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig Halle Airport, August 5
In July, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crashed into a field and exploded in eastern Poland, leaving a 10m-wide (33ft) crater a short distance from the village of Tarnawa Kolonia
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said a Russian cruise missile had ‘crossed into Poland’ as part an attack on Ukraine, ‘violating NATO airspace’ on July 30
Sikorski added that all Russians entering the EU should be required to have a biometric passport to prevent operatives from travelling on false identities.
The minister also supported calls for a reduction in the number of EU tourist visas issued to Russians.
Last year, nearly 500,000 were issued.
‘While we watch these videos of bridges in Kyiv being firebombed and… dead children being dragged out of apartment blocks, to hear of Russian tourists throwing around their wealth [in Europe] — it jars with me,’ he said.
According to German investigators, one of the men responsible for the Leipzig/Halle airport attack on August 4 was a Belarusian with a Russian passport who entered the country on a tourist visa.
In a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, EU foreign ministers are holding talks regarding bloc-wide restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats and possible tourist visa restrictions.
Sikorski called on all other EU nations ‘for their own sake’ to call out Russian responsibility for hybrid warfare tactics when they had sufficient evidence.
Asked why some countries may be reluctant to do so, he said: ‘I don’t want to comment on others. Everybody has politics.’
Sikorski said he would lobby the UK government to invite Poland to the G20 summit in Manchester next year in exchange for Warsaw’s support for a British rapprochement with the EU.
In December, the UK takes over the presidency of the G20 group of leading economies from the United States.
Poland would stand behind British efforts to get closer to the bloc.
‘We think the EU was better and would be better with Britain in it,’ he said.
‘And we ask for reciprocity in getting us into the G20 because we think that what we’ve achieved [in economic development] over the last 30 years demands recognition.’
