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Britain’s Foreign Office summoned Russia’s most senior diplomat in the country on Thursday to condemn what it called an “egregious and reckless attack” involving a drone at Leipzig airport last month.
“Today we summoned the Russian charge d’affaires to condemn the attack in the strongest terms,” a spokesperson said in a statement, describing the incident, which involved an explosive-laden drone, as “the latest in a clear pattern of attempts by the Russian state to undermine our collective security.”
The Leipzig/Halle Airport incident, on the night of 4-5 August, saw police use a robot to defuse a device found near a Ukrainian cargo plane, after months of suspicious drone sightings over German military and industrial sites had already put Berlin on alert.
A second drone, also carrying traces of an explosive substance, was reportedly found near the airport weeks later.
Germany’s government has blamed Russia for the incident, with the country’s interior minister saying it “fits the known pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe,” and Berlin has since moved to close Russia’s consulate in Bonn and its cultural centre in the capital.
Russia has called the allegations “absurd,” with its embassy in Germany rejecting the accusations as “unsubstantiated” and warning of “consequences” over the German response.
‘We will not tolerate it’
The UK’s move follows a wave of condemnation from other European capitals and institutions. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, speaking at a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Ireland, said: “It is clear that it has all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism.”
She added: “The question is, what do we do about this?”
Kallas said the EU had summoned the Russian envoy, with member states doing the same.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Leipzig incident marked “a new escalation” in Europe.
“This was an attack using military-grade material carried out by Russian operatives on European Union soil,” she said after talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“We will not tolerate it,” Von der Leyen warned and said that such incidents had become a “new normal” for Europe as Russia steps up destabilising activities.
Poland’s top diplomat, Radoslaw Sikorski, struck a similarly stark tone: “We do not seek conflict with Russia, but Russia seems to be at hybrid war with us.
“We are no longer in regular peacetime.”
Additional sources • AFP