EU debates need for NATO-style response to Russia 'hybrid attacks'

EU defence ministers on Monday discussed whether the bloc needs its own NATO-style emergency mechanism to bolster the response to "hybrid attacks" by Russia.

European governments say Moscow is stepping up a campaign of sabotage and interference against Ukraine's backers as the Kremlin's troops struggle on the front line there, more than four years after their February 2022 invasion.

After high-profile incidents such as an armed drone found at a German airport, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen earlier this month pitched establishing a new "emergency security protocol" to deal with the rising threat.

Von der Leyen said the mechanism -- similar to NATO's Article Four -- would allow any European Union country to convene urgent talks in case of crisis to help find consensus on responding to incidents in the grey zone below open aggression.

"Today was a very initial discussion, which means that we take this forward," EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said.

She said there was a clear desire among EU countries to avoid any overlap or competition with NATO and that the new European protocol should be more focused on action than talking.

"Article Four in NATO is just consultations. It's not any kind of action plan," she said.

"So the emergency protocol is rather which tools can be used at the moment of aggression that is not armed aggression, that is under the threshold of Article Five. What member states could do."

EU ministers broadly welcomed the push to step up the bloc's response as they grapple for ways to combat what they see as the menace from Moscow.

"We need to be able to not just respond when incidents happen, but also pre-empt possible escalations -- work with member states, work with each other, to make sure that we have a strong response in place should something happen," said Irish foreign minister Helen McEntee, whose country is one of only four in the EU not in NATO.

"There's still a bit of work to do to work through what that might look like -- but certainly, there's a willingness from member states."

A senior EU official said that Brussels can already put "quite a lot on the table" to help countries respond to hybrid incidents if needed.

That includes dispatching expert teams to help advise on how to bolster security, and increasing funding.

"Each country has to do their own measures to counter hybrid measures, but the European Union and NATO also have to do much more bigger measures, stronger coordination to counter these hybrid actions," said Finnish defence minister Antti Hakkanen.

EU officials have said that they intend to come up with more fleshed out proposals in a new security strategy document they hope to release next month.