Hybrid attacks… what NATO fears from Russia

Can the North Atlantic Treaty Organization respond to hybrid attacks?

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. General Alexus Grynkewich, said on Thursday that NATO has the capability to respond to the growing number of hybrid attacks, including by creating “problems” for Russia.

Speaking from NATO’s Allied Command Operations headquarters near the city of Mons in southern Belgium, he stated: “If Russia tries to create problems for us, there may be ways for us to create problems for them as well.”

He added: “I do not wish to go into details about how we could cause those problems,” while emphasizing that NATO is a defensive alliance and that its response carries “no offensive dimension.”

Following a series of hybrid attacks in Europe — including drone incidents and the sabotage of a railway line in Poland last month, attributed to Russia — several European officials have called for a stronger NATO response.

Grynkewich stressed that “these hybrid threats represent a real problem, and I truly believe we can expect more. We know that Russia is behind some of them, perhaps not all, but certainly some. And the public needs to be aware of that.”

However, he underlined that NATO “has the situation under control” and that the rise in hybrid attacks does not constitute “an existential threat” to the Alliance.

He concluded: “This does not threaten our unity. We are capable of responding and managing the situation.”