EU Ministers Discuss Protocol for Hybrid Threat Response

EU foreign and defence ministers met in Brussels on September 28 to discuss a proposed emergency security protocol that would help member states coordinate responses to hybrid threats falling short of armed aggression. The mechanism remains under discussion, with its procedures and relationship with NATO still to be settled. The proposal, advanced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, would allow an EU member state to convene urgent talks when it identifies a hybrid threat. The aim is to coordinate a response among member states. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the ministers would also examine the broader range of tools available to counter such activity. Kallas said intelligence indicated that Russia was planning further sabotage in Europe. The underlying intelligence was not made public in the reports. The meeting took place amid European concerns about sabotage and other activity attributed by governments to Moscow, but the ministers’ discussions focused on how the bloc might respond collectively to threats below the threshold of open armed aggression.