As European leaders warn that Russia may increase its so-called hybrid attacks against NATO member countries, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul insists that no members of the defensive alliance want to escalate tensions. The comments come as debate grows among European countries about how best to label and respond to increasing Russian-backed operations on the continent. In an interview airing Sunday on CTV Question Period, Wadephul says Russia’s interference on NATO territory is “on a new level,” pointing to a failed explosive drone attack last month on an airport in Leipzig, which Germany has blamed on Moscow. Russia has been blamed for several sabotage operations and drone incursions across European countries in recent weeks. Moscow consistently denies any involvement. When asked by host Vassy Kapelos at what point these Russian operations cross from so-called “hybrid warfare” into “warfare,” Wadephul insisted: “We are not there.” “Because Russia knows what could happen, and that NATO is, of course, able to defend the NATO territory,” Wadephul said, noting the alliance’s legal framework for assessing such activities and its principle of collective defence. Wadephul says Russia is trying to “interfere into our societies, into our territory” at a level below the threshold that would trigger NATO’s Article 5, which states that “an armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against them all.” But, while the German foreign minister insists the threshold has not been breached, others in the alliance disagree. “We still continue to label it as a hybrid attack because, and that is my assessment, we are not ready to give and provide adequate response to these attacks,” said Rihards Kols, a Latvian Member of European Parliament, in an interview on CTV’s Power Play this week. Kols says he believes leaders are hesitant to call these Russian attacks an “act of war” in part because such a label would escalate tensions with Moscow and possibly drag NATO into a war. Kols adds he does not agree with that assessment. “I think NATO is under attack by non-kinetic and partially kinetic means,” Kols said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “dream is to test Article 5, and if Article 5 fails to deliver, it’s the end of NATO.” “Do we have to wait for the mass casualties to happen?” he later asked. Kols, who was a member of the Saeima (Latvia’s parliament) for 10 years before he was elected to the European Parliament in 2024, told Kapelos that “the only language Putin and Putin’s regime understands is strength. It’s showing that we mean business when we are under attack and countermeasures taken.” Wadephul insisted this criticism that NATO continues to characterize Russian aggression as “hybrid” out of fear of further escalation from Moscow is “wrong.” “Nobody wants to escalate anything,” Wadephul said. “The only party which is escalating is Russia, and we have things under control.” “NATO is a defensive alliance, but we are able to defend our country, our people, our territory, and let’s stay calm” he added. In a press conference last week, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Putin will not be able to divide NATO, and insisted the alliance has all the options necessary to respond to Russia’s aggression. “It will not always be visible and public what we do,” Rutte said. “Some is, some is not public, for reasons we cannot always disclose. But I can assure you we have all the response options.” Wadephul said Putin’s main motivation is not to risk open confrontation with NATO, but rather to lower support for Ukraine among NATO countries. Russia’s war on Ukraine has now raged for more than 4 1/2 years with no end in sight. During a speech before the United Nations General Assembly last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the audience that Putin must be stopped. “The more freedom Putin has to act, the more dangerous the world becomes for everyone else,” Zelenskyy said. “He must be denied the space to act and the space to spread this evil further.” You can watch German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s full interview on CTV Question Period Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.
