Europe must take a more aggressive approach towards Russia by shooting down drones that enter European airspace and boarding shadow fleet ships illicitly transporting oil to deprive Moscow of war revenue, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.
Speaking at a European summit in Copenhagen, Macron and other European leaders called for more sanctions against Russia, notably targeting its energy sector, and emphasised that Ukraine is on the frontline of a widening hybrid war against Europe.
The positions of some of Europe’s leaders towards the continuing drone incursions, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and sanctions evasion appear to have hardened over two days of talks in Copenhagen, including a closed session among them without phones or advisors.
Macron urged the more than 40 leaders at the European Political Community summit to simply protect their interests without signalling their intentions to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think the main answer should be more unpredictability and more strategic ambiguity,” he said.
“It’s very important to have a clear message: drones which would violate our territories are just taking a big risk. They can be destroyed, full stop,” he said. “We are not here to provide the full notice. We will do what we have to do.”
Macron pointed to a decision by French authorities to stop an oil tanker on the European Union’s shadow fleet sanction list and detain two of its crew, as an effective way to act.
Naval experts believe the ship may have been used as a launchpad for drone flights over military installations and airports in Denmark.
Macron said that Russia finances “30 to 40% of the war effort” via this shadow fleet of aging tankers of obscure ownership.
Macron said that by seizing the ships, for a week or two, “we completely break the efficiency of the organisation. So the shadow fleet is a very good target if you want to improve our efficiency to reduce these capacities.”
He said that the same ship was checked by Estonian authorities in March.
Russia is a threat to all of us, says Frederiksen
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who hosted the summit days after a series of drone incidents at Denmark’s airports and military bases, said: “It must be clear to everyone now, Russia will not stop until they are forced to do so.”
Russia, she said, is “a threat not only to Ukraine but to all of us. Today, we have one major task ahead of us. We have to make our common Europe so strong that the war against us becomes unthinkable, and we have to do it now.”
Frederiksen warned her partners that Europe “can no longer be naïve. The war was never just about Ukraine. It is about Europe. All our nations, all our citizens, our values and our freedom.”
After the meeting, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that “Putin should not underestimate our determination. There is truly a very strong unity and there is a very firm resolve to confront this aggression together and for that I am extremely grateful.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged the leaders to abandon any “illusions” they might have about Russia’s intentions. He said that Poland has been a constant victim of Russian intimidation, most notably a major drone intrusion last month.
That incursion prompted Warsaw to activate Article 4 of the NATO Treaty to allow for consultations with allies.
Since then, Poland has vowed to shoot down Russian drones that enter its airspace.
“The first illusion was, and is, that there’s no war,” Tusk said, referring to those who talk about the war in Ukraine as a “full-scale aggression” or use other euphemisms.
“No. It’s war. A new type of war. Very complex, but it’s war.”
Another illusion, Tusk said, is “that it is impossible for Ukraine and for all of us to win this war. It’s absurd. The only Russian advantage, the only one, is mentality. We are much bigger than them,” in terms of economic might and population, he said.
Tusk, whose country borders Belarus and Ukraine, added: “We know that if they win against Ukraine, it is also in the future the end of my country and of Europe. I have no doubts.”
Economic pressure
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that it was important to ramp up economic pressure on Putin.
“The economic pressure is having an effect, and we need to continue that. Pressure through further sanctions, bearing down on energy in particular, and on the shadow fleet,” Starmer said before leaving the summit early to return to the UK after a terrorist attack outside a synagogue in Manchester left two people dead.
It’s also vital to put “Ukraine in the strongest possible position and that then means more on air defences, more on long-range (missiles) and anti-drone” capabilities that must be sent to the country, which is now in its fourth year of war, he added.