The European Union’s top diplomat says an attempted drone attack on a German airport bears the hallmarks of “state sponsored terrorism” carried out by Russia, as EU governments now debate how to respond.
Germany blamed Russia on Tuesday for the attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on Aug. 4, in which a drone loaded with explosives was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane. The device was defused before it could detonate. Berlin announced it would close a Russian consulate as part of its response. The airport serves as a major international freight hub and is used to support supply lines to Ukraine.
“It is clear that it has all the hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism. The question is: what do we do about this?” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters ahead of a meeting of the bloc’s defense ministers in Ireland.
Western officials have accused Moscow of running a wider campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe aimed at eroding support for Ukraine and destabilizing European governments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Berlin’s accusation, saying instead that Germany’s government wants to distract from its own political failings and voter dissatisfaction with “the need to counter an aggressive Russia.” He said any evidence being presented “has been planted.”
The EU was already preparing new sanctions tied to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Kallas said the bloc has “in the pipeline 1,600 listings for the military complex of Russia, and maybe there are more to be added.”
France Summons Russian Envoy
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the failed attack as part of “a long-term plan led by the Kremlin to destabilize the European Union, its democratic processes, but obviously also its support for Ukraine.”
France has summoned Russia’s ambassador in Paris to “protest strongly,” Barrot said.
“We won’t allow an act of such gravity without consequences,” Barrot said.
He added that France wants additional sanctions on the shadow fleet of ships illicitly transporting Russian oil to fund the war.
Germany, for its part, insisted it is “not at war” but has become a “daily target” of Russia’s hybrid campaign. Officials have not signaled they see this as a trigger for a NATO-level military response, even as pressure builds for a tougher EU posture.
Nearly Two Dozen Sanctions Packages
The EU has already imposed almost two dozen rounds of sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war, hitting roughly 3,000 people and entities, including Putin himself, oligarchs aligned with him, and scores of Russian lawmakers. Russian banks, financial institutions, hundreds of shadow-fleet ships, and companies including energy firms and drone manufacturers have also been targeted. The sanctions largely consist of asset freezes and travel bans, and extend to individuals and firms in Belarus, China, Iran and North Korea considered to be backing Russia.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband attended the Ireland meeting alongside officials from Ukraine, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.
“We see an attempt by Russia to divide us in Europe and to deter us from our support for Ukraine,” Miliband said. “This attempt will fail. It will fail because we will stand up to Russian aggression. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends in Ukraine” for “as long as it takes for them to prevail in this conflict.”
Part of a Broader Pattern
The Leipzig/Halle incident is one of several recent incidents across Europe that officials suspect are tied to Russia, including a fire at a major drone-manufacturing factory in Poland and drone incursions into Estonian and Latvian airspace linked to the war. Spain has separately accused Russia and Israel of using disinformation to encourage migrants to cross from Morocco into its Ceuta exclave.
EU member states remain wary of escalating into direct confrontation with a nuclear-armed Russia, even as the bloc weighs a firmer response to what its top diplomat has now labeled an act of state-sponsored terrorism.
