Russia could stand behind hundreds of “suspicious incidents” in Europe – Czechia’s top diplomat

Lipavsky spoke with reporters on Wednesday in Brussels, where NATO foreign ministers were meeting, Ukrinform reports, citing Reuters.

“This year there were 500 suspicious incidents in Europe. Up to 100 of them can be attributed to Russian hybrid attacks, espionage, influence operations. We need to send a strong signal to Moscow that this won’t be tolerated,” Lipavsky said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Bruno Kahl, chief of Germany’s BND, the Federal Intelligence Service, believes that Russia is ready to execute operations in Western countries, with which it is preparing to wage war, without any reservations or restrictions. If NATO refrains from applying Article 5 of the Charter in such cases, it will fail as a defensive Alliance, he suggests.

In mid-October, three German intelligence agencies, foreign and domestic intelligence and the Federal Directorate for Military Counterintelligence, filed a report with the Parliamentary Control Committee of the Bundestag, noting that Germany is already in direct confrontation with Russia and may become the target of Moscow’s aggression, and by 2030 the Russian army may attack NATO member states.