Drone incident in Leipzig: the trail leads to Russia
The German Government is holding Russia responsible for the attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport. The findings of the intelligence agencies clearly point to "Russian involvement", Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, and announced further sanctions, including the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and the termination of the lease for the Russian House in the centre of Berlin. We are not at war with Russia, but we are a "target of war", he stated. What comes next?
Europe must go a step further
A response to the Russian attacks was long overdue, says Frankfurter Rundschau:
“It also sends a signal to EU citizens to take the Russian threat more seriously and not just see it as a distant war against Ukraine. Sanctions alone are not enough. Germany and its partners will have to do more than before to mitigate the consequences of Russia's hybrid war, which encompasses sabotage and disinformation campaigns. ... The EU should go a step further. Spain and Greece should hand over their Patriot missile defence ammunition to Ukraine so that the invaded country can better protect itself against Russian attacks.”
Measured response from Berlin
The Tages-Anzeiger praises the response:
“This is a moderate signal to Putin, a cautious one even, since Berlin has refrained from involving Nato. Yet it is also a measured response because Chancellor Friedrich Merz thus retains the option to resort to the means of escalation: firstly, Article 4, which provides for consultations within the defence alliance if 'the territorial integrity or security' of an ally is threatened. And if the Russian bully still does not cease his provocations, Nato could then activate Article 5, the collective defence clause – at which point war in Europe would not be far off. Rationally speaking, Putin can have no interest in things going that far. But this warlord has not been behaving particularly rationally for some time now.”
Now the last buffer is gone
Unfortunately, the time for purely diplomatic responses is over, De Standaard stresses:
“Germany and its Nato allies must now do everything in their power to break free from the logic that military action is the only possible next move. Perhaps the concept of 'hybrid defence and deterrence' can buy some time, with a combination of diplomatic and economic sanctions and the accelerated expansion of their own defence capabilities. But the little diplomacy that had tentatively been pursued so far will be destroyed as a result. Positions will inevitably harden. There is no longer any buffer to prevent a reaction.”
Bureaucrats provoked into hasty measures
Journalist Sergei Aslanjan makes light of Germany's reaction on Facebook:
“Russia has acted treacherously, even though it knows that the Bundeswehr is not online at night and only wages war during working hours, in daylight from 8 am to 5 pm and with a lunch break. Russia's military operations on German territory disrupt the Chancellor's schedule, throw his staff's work into disarray and prevent a well-considered response, thereby provoking the government into taking hasty measures. This has a significant impact on Germany's defence capabilities, deprives Bundeswehr soldiers of their statutory benefits, disrupts their workflow and hinders their combat training.”
Leipzig was part of a campaign
Russia is pursuing a grand plan with small-scale actions, writes military expert Alexandru Grumaz in Adevărul:
“Moscow is targeting the system that is helping Ukraine to continue its fight. ... This is the fundamental problem for Nato. A large-scale attack on a member state is relatively easy to assess, both politically and militarily. A drone found near an airport, a suspicious fire in a factory, a damaged cable, a CCTV camera that has been tampered with or a saboteur recruited via Telegram are far more difficult to deal with. Taken individually, these incidents may be too minor to warrant a major response. Taken together, however, they can add up to a campaign. That is the essence of hybrid warfare.”