EU Leaders Avoid Calling Russia's Actions 'War' Despite Escalating Hybrid Threats

European security officials are increasingly warning that Russia's campaign against Europe has moved beyond what they call a hybrid war, as drone incursions, assassination plots and sabotage operations escalate across the continent. Yet EU leaders remain reluctant to use the word "war, instead relying on the softer term "hybrid war" to avoid triggering a military response from the EU or NATO. Security experts, diplomats and defense officials who spoke to Politico say the "hybrid" label risks underestimating the severity of the threat and obscuring how much the confrontation with Russia has already intensified.

One example cited: German investigators this week discovered a third drone along with explosives believed to be linked to a planned attack on an airport, prompting Chancellor Friedrich Merz to warn that his country faces "very real threats" amid "increased attention from hybrid attackers. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in an Aug. 20 post on X that Europe faces "an escalating campaign of threats" and hybrid warfare, following an incident in the Black Sea where a naval drone was shot down near a gas platform.