EU Fear Of Escalation Only Encourages Russia To Test New Limits - MEP

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) According to an Ukrinform correspondent, this was stated by Lithuanian Member of the European Parliament Rasa Juknevičienė, a representative of the European People's Party and rapporteur on the issue, as she opened a joint debate in Strasbourg on hybrid attacks against EU member states.

Juknevičienė emphasized that fear of escalation had not stopped Russia from escalating but had instead encouraged it to test the next limit.

She said that the biggest mistake would be to continue treating sabotage, cyberattacks, violations of airspace, and other hostile actions as unrelated incidents.

According to the MEP, Europe was already under attack in the "gray zone," which she described as the initial phase of a war that was increasingly taking on a kinetic character.

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Juknevičienė described Russia as the most serious hybrid threat to the European Union and said that the Kremlin was using hybrid tools both directly and through Belarus, proxies, and intermediaries.

She explained that the purpose of these actions was not merely to cause physical damage, but also to weaken European unity and democratic institutions, sow fear and distrust, undermine support for Ukraine, and reduce European countries' ability to defend themselves.

The rapporteur said that Russia was testing Europe's political will and argued that Europe's biggest weakness was that it was too slow to act. She noted that the Kremlin was exploiting the time European countries needed to make decisions.

Juknevičienė called on the EU to act more quickly and adopt a policy that would impose real consequences on those organizing and carrying out hybrid attacks.

She emphasized that Europe needed to move from resilience to deterrence, while acknowledging that resilience remained necessary.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament held a debate on the recent escalation of Russian hybrid attacks against EU member states. As part of the debate, Juknevičienė presented her report on hybrid warfare and the protection of the EU's territorial integrity and critical security and defense infrastructure.

MEPs will vote on a resolution based on the report on Wednesday, September 16.

As Ukrinform reported, the European Union is preparing new measures against the Russian economy, including its shadow fleet. It is also discussing new restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats, visa bans for former combatants, and a review of its policy on tourist visas for Russian citizens.

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