European Union defense ministers have discussed creating an emergency consultation mechanism in response to growing hybrid threats from Russia, according to a recent statement by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. Politico reported that the proposal involves an emergency security protocol modeled on Article 4 of the NATO treaty. EU policy expert Petar Tanev told The Insider that the idea is the result of a rise in provocative Russian actions across Europe, which have led the bloc to seek the development of its own “alarm button.”
Kallas said Russia has increased its support for acts of sabotage inside the EU, violated the bloc’s airspace, and carried out other provocations that require a faster response. At a Sept. 28 meeting, EU defense ministers held their first ever substantive discussion regarding an urgent consultation mechanism that would allow member states to coordinate their response to a particular threat, she said. The proposed emergency security protocol is intended to help the EU respond more quickly to Russian hybrid attacks while complementing existing NATO mechanisms.
Politico reported that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had previously backed such a protocol, framing it as Europe’s “own version” of NATO’s Article 4, a provision that allows any NATO member to request immediate consultations with allies if it believes its security is under threat. Kallas said the EU mechanism should cover actions that fall “under the armed aggression threshold.”
Petar Tanev, an expert on EU policy, told The Insider that rising Russian hybrid threats have created a need for an additional mechanism that would allow the EU to respond quickly and in a coordinated way to provocations in Europe. NATO procedures alone, he explained, are no longer sufficient for the bloc’s needs.
“The speed of decision-making is also part of our defense. Drones over Poland and Romania, a drone shot down in Lithuania, Russian provocations in the Baltic region — all of this requires a more decisive response. In my view, Moscow is testing our readiness to defend ourselves and act together. We need to prepare seriously for the risk of further escalation, especially in the Baltic region. Europe needs pre-agreed actions and the ability to quickly come to the aid of a country facing a threat. This is where I see a direct connection with a European Security Council — a proposal we developed and promoted together with European Parliament member Sergey Lagodinsky.
The protocol can be compared to an alarm button: one country reports a threat, and the others come together to coordinate a joint response. It could also provide permanent political coordination involving Britain, Ukraine and other partners in close connection with NATO.”
Discussions in the EU about the need for a coordinated response to hybrid attacks intensified after an incident in Germany in early August, when a drone equipped with a detonator was found at Leipzig airport near a Ukrainian transport plane. Berlin accused Moscow of organizing the attack and closed the Russian House in Berlin and Russia’s consulate general in Bonn in response to the incident. In mid-September, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Russia was planning “hybrid” drone and missile attacks against countries supporting Ukraine, including NATO member Poland.
