NATO will not tolerate hybrid actions against Alliance members – Whitaker considers the incident in Leipzig “particularly troubling”

NATO members should not tolerate deliberate acts of hybrid warfare, and the United States will support countries as they ‌deal with these incidents. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said this on Saturday, UNN reports.

Details

Whitaker said that last month's attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany, which Berlin ‌blamed on Russia, caused more concern than other recent incidents NATO members have faced involving Russian drones targeting Ukraine that veered off course.

"Then you have what I would call more troubling hybrid actions, as we saw in Leipzig, as we saw in Poland," Whitaker said on the sidelines of a business conference in Italy.

NATO members ‌must be ready and vigilant, as well as deliver a clear message when they face a challenge due to these events, he said.

"If we can determine who is doing this — which Germany did — we will certainly state firmly that it is unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it," Whitaker said.

He added that critical infrastructure, including energy assets, could become targets of attacks and should be monitored by national authorities.

The response to these challenges is primarily national, but the United States supports countries when they face these actions, he said.

Additionally

At the beginning of August, a drone with a detonator was found near a Ukrainian Antonov aircraft at Leipzig Airport.

Later, German authorities said they were investigating the incident as possible sabotage, while the interior minister called it a hybrid attack.

In addition, it was reported that U.S. intelligence determined that the drone found at Leipzig/Halle Airport near the Ukrainian An-124 belonged to Russia.

Previously

Germany directly accused Russia of organizing the drone attack on Leipzig Airport on the night of August 5. Berlin will tighten border controls for Russian citizens entering the country.