The High Representative of the EU, like European foreign ministers, promised, on Wednesday 2 September, that the EU will adopt sanctions in response to the hybrid attack carried out in Leipzig in August and attributed to Russia on 1 September. An explosive drone had been discovered at Leipzig-Halle military airport, near Ukrainian cargo planes.
On her arrival at the Gymnich in Wicklow (Ireland), the High Representative of the EU, Kaja Kallas, said that the attack bore “all the hallmarks of State-sponsored terrorism”, as did the Polish minister, Radosław Sikorski, and the Latvian minister, Baiba Braže.
“We are not seeking conflict with Russia, but it appears to be waging a hybrid war against us, and we must show Putin that we will not be intimidated”, Mr Sikorski added. According to the Lithuanian minister, Kęstutis Budrys, “it is obvious that Russia does not perceive the political consequences of its hybrid activities against us. We must step up pressure, because we are seeing their expansion”. In his view, hybrid attacks have quadrupled over the past year in all areas.
“It is time for everyone, in Europe and elsewhere, to realise that this is not going to stop and to do everything possible to reduce the presence of Russian agents and strengthen support for our services, whether border services, security, cybersecurity or any other necessary service, because this is not going to stop”, Baiba Braže added.
From Brussels, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recalled that the Leipzig attack had been carried out using military equipment and perpetrated by Russian agents on EU soil.
“This attack marks a new escalation on European soil, directly attributed to Russia. But it is part of a broader context of increasingly dangerous incidents (…). Europeans are facing a harsh reality: this is the new normal”, she recalled, calling for European efforts to be intensified so as to “respond more quickly and more effectively to Russian recklessness”.
“We can impose additional sanctions and have them ready to be applied as soon as such dangerous and potentially deadly acts are attributed to Russia. Every loophole exploited by Russia must be closed”, Ms von der Leyen added.
Sanctioning Russia. Europeans are therefore expected to once again tighten their sanctions against Russia in the coming weeks.
Ms Kallas explained that it was possible to sanction more than 1,600 persons and entities linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and others may be added. “Work is under way. We started with fewer names, but the Member States have provided more. Obviously, the legality of each case must be checked, and that takes time”, she warned, while hoping for an agreement at the Foreign Affairs Council on 12 October.
The High Representative added that the sanctions already adopted had to be applied “firmly”, given that they are being circumvented. “Ukraine has identified more than 5,500 Western and Asian components in Russian weapons. After four years of war, that is unacceptable. These components have no place in Russian weaponry”, she warned.
The Finnish minister, Elina Valtonen, said that it was “essential to strengthen all measures aimed at weakening the Russian war machine”, judging it imperative to examine all possible options to strengthen sanctions and explore every avenue, both on imports and exports.
“The absolute priority is the Russian missile ecosystem, the production of ballistic missiles and the associated payment systems”, her Latvian counterpart specified, supported on this point by the Ukrainian minister, as the country faces numerous air attacks.
Limiting visas. In addition, “a broad consensus emerged in favour of tightening the ban on entry into the EU for former Russian combatants and tightening visa restrictions for Russian tourists”, Ms Kallas announced.
Asked about the fact that one of the suspects in the Leipzig attack is said to have entered the EU with an Italian tourist visa, the High Representative considered that, if this proved to be true, it would “clearly demonstrate that visas are a tool used by those who want to harm the EU in order to enter it”, hoping that this would convince certain Member States opposed to tightening visa restrictions that this is a matter of EU security.
The EU and several Member States, including France, Sweden, Finland and Portugal, have also summoned the Russian chargés d’affaires or ambassadors on their territory in retaliation for the Leipzig attack. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)