WICKLOW, Ireland: EU countries on Wednesday summoned Russia’s envoys and discussed fresh sanctions after a drone incident in Germany that the bloc’s foreign policy chief said bore the marks of “state-sponsored terrorism”.
The incident involving an explosive-laden drone at Leipzig airport has heightened fears over a sabotage campaign that the EU and Nato say is a Russian attempt to destabilise Ukraine’s backers.
“It is clear that it has all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Ireland.
“The question is, what do we do about this?”
Kallas said the EU had summoned the Russian envoy, and member states were doing the same.
“We will not let an act of such gravity go unpunished,” French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, adding he had called in Russia’s envoy in Paris. Kallas said that EU foreign ministers agreed to keep working on a proposal to impose sanctions on 1,600 individuals and entities linked to Russia’s military industry in the hope of adopting them next month.
“Seeing these hybrid attacks across Europe, I think these are also wake-up calls for the countries who have not been so strong, maybe on this,” she said.
