cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10115052
The European Parliament emphasises that hybrid threats, mainly from Russia, China and Belarus, represent an escalating security challenge for the EU, and calls for a comprehensive EU response, stronger EU–NATO coordination, enhanced resilience and civil preparedness, targeted countermeasures, and closer cooperation with partner countries.
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In a report (opens pdf) the parliament emphasizes that hybrid attacks have become significantly more frequent and sophisticated, where through a combination of political, economic, cyber, informational and military instruments, the aim is to weaken citizens’ trust in institutions and destabilize European societies, without crossing the threshold of an open armed conflict.
It is particularly noteworthy that Russian hybrid activities in Europe quadrupled between 2022 and 2023, and then tripled again during the period 2023–2024, especially in countries that provide political, financial, and military support to Ukraine.
The document recalls that the concept of hybrid warfare gained importance after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, when Moscow combined the engagement of so-called “little green men” with other unconventional methods of action. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 further demonstrated that covert operations can be combined with conventional military actions within a single strategy.
Cyberspace as the main battlefield
The authors of the document assess that the cyber domain remains one of the most important areas of hybrid action. State and non-state actors use cyber attacks for espionage, intelligence gathering, disruption of the functioning of institutions, and influence on public opinion.
Examples include the Iran-linked cyberattack on Albanian state institutions in 2022, the attack on the European Parliament website after Russia was declared a state sponsor of terrorism, and the DDoS attack on the French National Assembly in 2023, for which the pro-Russian group NoName057 claimed responsibility.
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The report names Russia and China as leading actors conducting coordinated campaigns to distort public debate, undermine trust, and influence democratic processes, while also noting a significant rise in AI-enabled techniques and procedures.
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What about that country that explicitly threatens the EU ?
Maybe its exactly because US admin is explicit about it, it isn’t considered a hybrid threat.
This is what I hate about the EU, they are idiots
Why would you even believe that? Not seen the EU polls or the news lately? The EU have been decoupling rapidly, and most people here don’t condider US trustworhy.
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EU measures the US with the same tool as they measure China.
Different threats, different methods. Tesla doesn’t get fat Chinese state subsidies afaik. Technically China should abide the WTO rules, but they have been flooding the EU markets with their overcapacity. It’s unfair competition as you should know. What’s your point?
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I’d imagine the union is not ran by an imbecile like Trump, and everyone up there realized it doesn’t really make sense to start ruining relationships with an important country that’s still a democracy and is experiencing a temporary existential crisis. We all like to believe you will get better and it’s just best to ride this out without getting too dramatic.
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Surely it can’t get worse
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I mean, let’s be real. Russia’s army is from pre 1970, Belerus isn’t any better. China fakes everything, they went through like 3 “missle comanders” because they found out over half their missile silos were either cemented over, or filled with water instead of rocket fuel because of the coruption.
