The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, insisted this Monday that the reports of a hybrid war driven by Russia "do not constitute propaganda," but are "real" and are "documented" by intelligence services. In this context, he emphasized that the appearance of Russian drones over some European airports "are not inventions."
Nuñez explained that during this same weekend, new episodes of this type have occurred, although he clarified that France has not yet suffered "any significant sabotage." "In addition, we are often asked for collaboration in the field of anti-drone combat," pointed out the Interior Minister in an interview granted to BFMTV.
"This threat is real," Nuñez stressed, who has confirmed the existence of cyberattacks linked to this Russian hybrid war. "It is documented and the entirety of the European intelligence services converge in the same direction (...) It is irresponsible to minimize this threat," the minister insisted.
"We know that hybrid warfare, and in particular that carried out by the Russians, aims to attack our networks, our defense industrial base, the same one that supports Ukraine," he added, referring to the focus of these attacks on strategic infrastructures.
Last Friday, Nuñez held a meeting with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who later conveyed to both political leaders and the public the urgency of seriously addressing this challenge. "The nature of the aggression and Russian threats in Europe is changing," warned the head of state.
In recent months, incidents involving drones have occurred at airports in neighboring countries of Russia and Ukraine, in the context of the war, as well as alleged attempts at sabotage against railway networks and other critical infrastructures in various European states. At the same time, accusations of cyberattacks have become commonplace.