The Guardian: Russian Drones Have Presented Europe With A Difficult Dilemma
- 9.10.2025, 9:08
Recent episodes point to a change in tactics.
Russian drone incursions into European airspace are adding to the chaos and presenting Europe with a difficult dilemma: react and risk escalation or face accusations of weakness, writes The Guardian.
The publication notes that Russia's "hybrid warfare" is suddenly too close to Europeans: potentially affecting cities far from the front lines that have so far been unconcerned about the consequences of the war in Ukraine. That said, recent drone episodes point to a shift in tactics and an acceleration of the hybrid campaign.
"For example, Moscow could use oil tankers from its illegal 'shadow fleet' as a launching pad for drones, including those that forced Denmark to close its airports," the publication writes.
Gray Area Defense Problems
European leaders have to reassure citizens in a situation where they themselves do not know how to react. For example, Germany and Poland have demanded that police be allowed to shoot down drones, but this is not always legal or desirable, according to the article:
"European NATO leaders have to balance on the edge, calibrating their response to controversial incursions that are not direct military aggression - operating in the so-called gray zone."
At the same time, the identity of the attacker is still not entirely clear, and as a result no one wants to be provoked into escalating conflict with a nuclear superpower, The Guardian writes.
"But inaction is not an option either. The vast majority of EU citizens, polls show, want their leaders to unite to defend themselves against security threats," the article notes.
As a result, new threats are exposing deep divisions in Europe. And the resulting sense of weakness, wrote Paul Taylor, a research fellow at the European Policy Center, threatens to prompt further provocations by Vladimir Putin.
"The worse the situation gets, the less able they are to make any decisions," Taylor said, adding that the lack of mutual trust is now exacerbated by fears that U.S. help cannot be relied upon.