The European Union is preparing an emergency security protocol to help member states respond jointly to hybrid attacks that fall short of armed aggression. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced this as she arrived for a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels on 28 September.
“We will discuss hybrid attacks in the EU and a broader strategy against them. We will also propose an emergency protocol. That means everything below the threshold of armed aggression: how we can act together — the European Commission, the member states and the European External Action Service. What tools we can use at different levels,” Kallas said.
The idea was first put forward by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address. She described it as Europe’s version of NATO’s Article 4: any EU country could trigger urgent consultations if its security is threatened, even without an open military attack.
The protocol is meant to cover the “grey zone”: drone incursions, sabotage, cyberattacks, arson and other hostile acts once responsibility has been established. Kallas stressed that the mechanism must complement NATO rather than duplicate it. NATO’s Article 4, she said, is mainly about consultations, while the European protocol should provide concrete response tools.
After the meeting, Kallas said this had been only a first discussion. There is no clear majority among member states yet: some want a more robust instrument, others insist it must strictly complement NATO. Talks will continue at different levels.
The push follows a rise in incidents that European capitals attribute to Russia. Kallas warned that intelligence indicates preparations for further sabotage. The aim of such actions, in her assessment, is to divide European societies, intimidate them and undermine support for Ukraine.
Recent episodes include a Russian aircraft violating Finnish airspace over the Gulf of Finland, a drone incident at a German airport and attacks on infrastructure. The EU already uses sanctions and restrictions on Russian diplomats, but Brussels believes a faster, more coordinated response is needed below the threshold of NATO’s Article 5 and Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union.
