+34
EU foreign ministers gathered at Druids Glen in County Wicklow to coordinate a response to what Poland described as Moscow's expanding hybrid campaign involving assassination squads, arson, sabotage and repeated airspace violations. Officials in Brussels are preparing to sanction a further 1,600 individuals and entities linked to Russia's military industrial complex, while Ukraine warned it needs more air defences ahead of a harsh winter.
We are no longer in regular peacetime, Poland's foreign minister Radosław Sikorski warned on Wednesday, as EU foreign ministers gathered at Druids Glen in County Wicklow to calibrate a unified response to what officials describe as Moscow's intensifying hybrid war across Europe.
The Polish minister outlined a campaign that has expanded well beyond cyber attacks causing online nuisance. He described assassination squads, arson attacks, the blowing up of moving trains in Poland, and repeated breaches of airspace by drones and cruise missiles. Sikorski said the EU needed to convince President Vladimir Putin that such actions would not go unpunished and would carry tangible consequences for the Kremlin.
His stark assessment set the tone for an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers hosted by Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee, who used the gathering to push for stronger collective action against Russia. EU officials in Brussels are preparing to sanction a further 1,600 individuals and entities connected to Moscow's military industrial complex and its ballistic missile programme as part of that response.
A foiled drone attack on Leipzig airport last month has galvanised support for tougher measures. Germany has said it believes Russia was behind the failed attack, an assessment that has led Berlin to push for firm retaliation at both national and EU level.
Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braže said it was time for everyone in Europe to wake up to the reality of Putin's campaign and that Brussels needed to be quicker in designing and approving new rounds of economic sanctions to hurt Russia. Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, who joined the EU discussion in Ireland, warned that Russia had developed fast, jet-powered drones that were harder to shoot down.
He said the Ukrainian government needed more Patriot air defences and interceptors to take out incoming ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones. Sybiha told reporters that Russia was attacking Ukraine every day with ballistic missiles and that Ukraine did not have enough quantities of interceptors to shoot them down. Kyiv is preparing for a winter of intense Russian bombardments in the war that began more than four years ago.
Luxembourg's minister Xavier Bettel said the attempted attack in Germany showed the Ukraine war was coming closer to EU states and warned that if Ukraine collapses other countries would be next in line. UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband, who was invited to join the discussion by the Irish Government as it holds the rotating council of the EU presidency, said the incidents were part of a Russian plan to send a chilling effect across Europe and divide Ukraine's allies.
He stressed it was important for European nations to stand in solidarity with Ukraine in the face of provocations designed to fracture the coalition supporting Kyiv. Finland's foreign minister Elina Valtonen said her government was open to EU sanctions that cut off Russia's aluminium supply chain, a move that would bar metals giant Rusal's Limerick refinery, Aughinish Alumina, from shipping raw material to Russia.
She said all options on the table needed to be explored in terms of tightening the sanctions, noting that Russia's economy had effectively become a war economy in which everything produced was directly or indirectly targeted towards the war effort. Minister McEntee, who was hosting the EU meeting, said the Irish Government had backed the previous 21 rounds of sanctions and pledged that Ireland would not be found wanting and would work very closely with the European Commission on any future sanctions.
The Wicklow meeting highlighted a growing recognition among EU member states that the pattern of provocations from Moscow, whether sabotage, drone incursions or attempts on critical infrastructure, requires a more rapid and coordinated sanctions architecture, along with sustained military support for Ukraine as it faces relentless aerial bombardment heading into the colder months
EU Russia Ukraine Sanctions Hybrid War
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ed Miliband to join EU foreign ministers meeting in Wicklow this weekHelen McEntee to bring Meath twist to foreign ministers' dinner in Druids Glen
Read more »
EU must show resolve against Russian hybrid attacks, Kallas warns at Wicklow defence meetingThe EU's top foreign policy official Kaja Kallas has warned that Russian hybrid operations across Europe aim to frighten citizens and erode support for Ukraine. Speaking after an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in County Wicklow, she urged member states to send Patriot missiles to Kyiv and announced new sanctions targeting Russia's defence industry.
Read more »
Oisín McConville set to remain in charge of Wicklow footballers in 2027Wicklow will compete in the Sam Maguire competition next year after winning the Tailteann Cup.
Read more »
Oisín McConville to stay in charge of WicklowMcConville led Wicklow to a Tailteann Cup success this season
Read more »