Russia’s foreign minister accused Germany of “declar[ing] war” after Berlin said the Kremlin was behind an attempted airport drone attack. Russia denied involvement, saying Germany had planted evidence, but NATO is convinced this is the latest incident in the Kremlin’s long-running hybrid warfare campaign of sabotage and cyberattacks.
The West is failing to deter the low-level attacks, which are designed to be below the threshold of triggering NATO involvement, defense officials told the Financial Times. The rise of populist right-wing movements in Europe is complicating the response: Germany’s hard-right AfD, which won a key vote this weekend, is sympathetic to Moscow, and the president of France’s National Rally called for Ukraine to start paying for Europe’s help in fighting Russia.