Relevance to the sub: Intensifying attacks from Russia against European nations, hybrid warfare threatening infrastructure, expansion of the Ukraine war to Europe
Emmanuel Macron convened on Friday, September 18, the leaders of the main French political parties to share intelligence and inform them of the enhanced risks posed by the war in the Middle East and the Russian invasion of Ukraine for French interests, particularly on fuel prices and threats against critical infrastructure.
After the meeting, Macron gave a press conference in which he claimed that Russia was waging "hybrid warfare" on European nations, and announced that he had ordered the government to strengthen the protection of critical energy and defense infrastructure, confirming that Russia had already carried out hybrid attacks in France.
In 2024, a Russo-Ukrainian man was severely injured after accidentally detonating an IED near the Roissy airport; in 2024-25, several destabilization attempts involving contract perpetrators targeting Jewish and Muslim sites with heinous tags and pig heads were identified; in 2026, a drone manufacturer in Toulouse was targeted by arson attempts and espionage. The string of incidents echoes other actions in Europe, from sabotage in the Netherlands, arson in Italy, or a drone explosion in Germany, which was for the first time formally attributed to Russia by German intelligence.
For weeks, NATO leaders have warned that Russia was expanding and intensifying sabotage and destabilization operations in Europe, and that the Kremlin may seek to attempt a more serious action to test NATO's defense in the coming months – Poland's PM Donald Tusk warned this week that Russia might be planning to execute drone strikes against NATO countries to probe their defenses and/or create a justification for broader mobilization for the Russian armed forces.
While support to Ukraine remains a popular issue in France, Marine Le Pen's National Rally, a far-right, pro-Russian party who vowed to decrease French aid to Ukraine and exert diplomatic pressure on Kyiv to conclude a peace agreement with Moscow, is topping the polls for the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for the spring of 2027.
Posted by RaidBrimnes
2 Comments
!ping EUROPE&FRANCE
It seems that Macron is getting seriously worried about Russian escalation in the coming months. It’s not going to move the pro-Kremlin far-right and far-left, but laying out a plan to shield critical infrastructure is necessary just in case.
As long as the West doesn’t retaliate, there’s no downside in Russia trying, the whole reason Russia gets away with it is plausible deniability, the West should do the same.