According to the Italian agency ANSA, Kallas made a statement on September 28 in Brussels before a meeting of the defense ministers of EU countries. "We must remain vigilant, as the intelligence information we have indicates that Russia is planning new acts of sabotage and attacks against our democracies," said the head of European diplomacy. According to Kallas, the alleged actions are aimed at "dividing and intimidating" European societies and forcing them to withdraw further assistance to Ukraine. However, she did not specify what exactly the planned sabotage entails, in which countries they may occur, and on what specific intelligence data the warning is based. ### EU discusses response to hybrid attacks At the meeting in Brussels, EU defense ministers are discussing strengthening joint responses to hybrid threats. In particular, the creation of an emergency protocol is being considered to help EU countries coordinate actions more quickly in the event of such attacks. Kallas emphasized that European countries need not only to respond to incidents that have already occurred but also to learn to act before the alleged attacks are carried out. The warning came against the backdrop of a series of sabotage, cyberattacks, and airspace violations that European authorities associate with Russia. On September 21, Kallas stated that Europe is facing a rapid spread of sabotage attacks and airspace violations and that, in her assessment, Moscow is trying to intimidate European countries and reduce their support for Ukraine. ### Kallas again calls for air defense for Ukraine At the same time, the head of European diplomacy once again urged EU states with air defense systems in storage to consider transferring them to Ukraine. "Ukraine urgently needs air defense," Kallas said, urging EU countries to assess which systems from their existing stocks they can provide to Kyiv. Thus, Kallas's warning indicates that the EU is viewing hybrid threats not as isolated incidents but as a systemic security problem. However, European authorities have not yet disclosed either the possible targets of the new sabotage or the timelines for their preparation, so this primarily concerns a warning based on classified intelligence data.
