cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10115052
The European Parliament emphasises that hybrid threats, mainly from Russia, China and Belarus, represent an escalating security challenge for the EU, and calls for a comprehensive EU response, stronger EU–NATO coordination, enhanced resilience and civil preparedness, targeted countermeasures, and closer cooperation with partner countries.
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In a report (opens pdf) the parliament emphasizes that hybrid attacks have become significantly more frequent and sophisticated, where through a combination of political, economic, cyber, informational and military instruments, the aim is to weaken citizens’ trust in institutions and destabilize European societies, without crossing the threshold of an open armed conflict.
It is particularly noteworthy that Russian hybrid activities in Europe quadrupled between 2022 and 2023, and then tripled again during the period 2023–2024, especially in countries that provide political, financial, and military support to Ukraine.
The document recalls that the concept of hybrid warfare gained importance after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, when Moscow combined the engagement of so-called “little green men” with other unconventional methods of action. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 further demonstrated that covert operations can be combined with conventional military actions within a single strategy.
Cyberspace as the main battlefield
The authors of the document assess that the cyber domain remains one of the most important areas of hybrid action. State and non-state actors use cyber attacks for espionage, intelligence gathering, disruption of the functioning of institutions, and influence on public opinion.
Examples include the Iran-linked cyberattack on Albanian state institutions in 2022, the attack on the European Parliament website after Russia was declared a state sponsor of terrorism, and the DDoS attack on the French National Assembly in 2023, for which the pro-Russian group NoName057 claimed responsibility.
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The report names Russia and China as leading actors conducting coordinated campaigns to distort public debate, undermine trust, and influence democratic processes, while also noting a significant rise in AI-enabled techniques and procedures.
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Different threats, different methods. Tesla doesn’t get fat Chinese state subsidies afaik. Technically China should abide the WTO rules, but they have been flooding the EU markets with their overcapacity. It’s unfair competition as you should know. What’s your point?
My point is exactly what I said, we tend to make excuses when the US does something terrible but condemn when China does it. I am not defending China, I am merely highlighting the hypocrisy. When Wikileaks showed that the US was spying on every EU leader and it’s people nobody cared, but Huawei was quickly banned when we found out China was involved in espionage. Eu leaders need to realize the US is NOT our ally, given the chance they would sell every European life for a barrel of oil to feed their dying empire. Wake up, the US is as much of a threat to Europe as China or Russia, let’s start acting like it