Nato countries should not tolerate deliberate hybrid attacks against their territory, the US ambassador to the alliance has warned, as concern grows in Europe over alleged Russian sabotage, drone incidents and attacks on critical infrastructure.
Matthew Whitaker said the US was prepared to support Nato allies facing such threats, while stressing that the initial responsibility for responding to individual incidents rested with national governments.
His comments followed an alleged attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month, which German authorities have attributed to Russia.
Whitaker described the incident as particularly concerning, distinguishing it from previous cases involving Russian drones launched towards Ukraine that subsequently crossed into neighbouring countries.
“Then you have what I would call the more concerning hybrid actions like we saw in Leipzig, like we have seen in Poland,” Whitaker said.
He said Nato members needed to remain alert to attacks designed to operate below the threshold of a conventional military confrontation.
“If we can identify who’s doing it — which Germany did — we make sure we express strongly that is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it,” he said.
The intervention represents a further hardening of rhetoric from Washington and European capitals over what they describe as a growing campaign of Russian hybrid activity across the continent.
Moscow has been accused by several Western governments of involvement in cyberattacks, sabotage operations and other incidents intended to disrupt European infrastructure without triggering a direct military confrontation with Nato.
Russia has denied responsibility for many such allegations.
Whitaker said particular attention should be paid to critical infrastructure, including energy facilities, which he warned could become potential targets for hostile operations.
Such infrastructure remained primarily the responsibility of national authorities, he said, although Washington was prepared to support allies confronted by similar threats.
The Leipzig incident has become a particular focus of concern in Germany.
A drone carrying explosives was reportedly discovered near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport. The explosives did not detonate, although German authorities concluded that the incident could have had far more serious consequences had they done so.
Berlin subsequently attributed responsibility for the alleged operation to Russia.
The incident has added to wider European concerns about the increasing use of methods that fall between conventional warfare and peacetime criminal activity.
European governments have become increasingly concerned about alleged Russian operations involving drones, cyberattacks, espionage and sabotage, particularly since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The challenge for Nato is that such actions can be difficult to attribute conclusively and may not meet the threshold required to trigger a collective military response under Article 5 of the alliance’s founding treaty.
Whitaker’s comments nevertheless suggest that Washington wants to draw a clearer line over deliberate attacks against Nato territory.
While he stopped short of outlining a collective alliance response to individual hybrid incidents, he said identified perpetrators should face a strong reaction.
The US ambassador’s warning comes as European governments consider whether their existing intelligence and security structures are sufficiently equipped to counter a growing range of hostile activity.
Germany, for example, is considering expanding the powers available to its intelligence agencies to respond to cyber operations and other forms of foreign interference.
For Western governments, the central concern is increasingly not the prospect of a conventional Russian attack on Nato territory, but a sustained campaign of disruption designed to exploit vulnerabilities while remaining below the threshold of open war.
Whitaker’s message was that such a strategy should not be allowed to become an accepted feature of Europe’s security environment.
Nato countries, he said, must remain vigilant — and where responsibility can be established, make clear that deliberate attacks against alliance members will not be tolerated.
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