Who's behind the drone incidents in Europe?
Incidents involving drones are on the rise in Europe: a train travelling from Kyiv to Warsaw was attacked on Sunday, Nato fighter jets shot down another drone that entered Lithuanian airspace on Tuesday, and a drone containing explosives was found and defused at Leipzig airport a few weeks ago. Commentators examine the background to these events and the impact on different regions.
Eyeing the corridor to the Atlantic
Russia is pursuing clear objectives with its provocations, La Stampa fumes:
“A drone in the skies over Lithuania, two flares fired at a Danish helicopter, and above all fierce threats against Poland. Vladimir Putin's Russia is stepping up its military provocations against Northern Europe in order to put pressure on Nato, thereby opening up a second front in the crisis alongside the war in Ukraine. While the attack on Kyiv in 2022 revealed the Kremlin's intention to capture Odessa in order to regain control of the Black Sea – the gateway to the southern seas – current events in Northern Europe show that the Baltic Sea, the corridor to the Atlantic, is now at the top of the Kremlin's agenda.”
Mounting pressure on the EU
El Mundo stresses the need for the EU to prioritise effective defence:
“The Baltic Sea region is the ideal location. ... Drones flying across borders, electronic jamming, threats to underwater infrastructure, naval incidents, actions of unclear origin. ... In this way, reaction times and political divisions are being tested without major consequences. Taken as a whole, all these incidents add up to a strategy designed to exert sustained pressure on Europe. ... The EU is economically and technologically strong enough to deter Moscow from further hybrid escalation. But to translate this potential into effective defence capabilities will require the political will and substantial investments in security.”
Don't underestimate or overestimate Russia
Moscow has good reasons to seek division, explains Newsweek Polska:
“Russia is a strong state militarily – in terms of the quantity of equipment and troops , but not the quality of its equipment or the training of its personnel. However, it is not stronger than the entire European part of Nato. The biggest mistake, therefore, would be to either underestimate or overestimate Russia. The former could lead to war. The latter would lead to a policy of capitulation even before the war begins. And this is precisely what the Kremlin is banking on when it threatens Nato, unleashes its terrorists and sends troll farms into battle. ... In Moscow they know full well that Russia stands no chance of winning a conflict against a united Europe.”