Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on Friday said Europe is “under assault from Russia,” with hybrid attacks ranging from political murders and cyberwarfare to acts of sabotage and arson.
At a press conference in Berlin, Sikorski said that Poland’s term holding the rotating EU presidency would be “focused on security,” with the country feeling “vindicated” that its repeated warnings of the threat emanating from Moscow having proved correct.
Almost three years on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sikorski highlighted the multifaceted attacks being perpetrated by Russia on European soil, including a notorious 2019 assassination in Berlin and “political murders” in the United Kingdom.
“In other countries, there are acts of sabotage: in the Czech Republic, in Lithuania, in Poland,” Sikorski said, referring to instances of arson, threats, and disruption to infrastructure that have caused alarm across Eastern Europe in recent years.
The events can be directly linked to Russia’s GRU intelligence service, argued the 61-year-old, who previously served as Poland’s defence minister. “We have caught the people who were recruited by the GRU, and instructed and paid money for setting places ablaze.”
Russia’s assaults on European security have also been taking place online for many years, Sikorski said.
European countries are under “constant cyberattacks,” he warned, while further mentioning “meddling” in the Brexit referendum.
Events in Romania – which saw the first round of its presidential election annulled in December after the unexpected victory of a little-known pro-Russian candidate – must serve as a “wake-up call,” Sikorski underlined.
