As Brussels considers a new emergency security protocol, Marcin Zaborowski says sanctions, Ukraine support and other non-military tools could give the bloc a faster way to impose costs on Moscow. The EU’s proposed emergency protocol for hybrid attacks will only deter Russia if it triggers concrete measures automatically, TVP World Europe Editor Marcin Zaborowski has said. EU ministers had a first chance to discuss the proposed Emergency Security Protocol on Monday, as Brussels seeks a faster collective response to sabotage, cyberattacks, arson and other hostile acts below the threshold of armed aggression. Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, said it would be “a coordination mechanism to respond [to] grey zone attacks,” warning that intelligence suggests Russia is planning further sabotage across Europe. Zaborowski told TVP World’s News in Depth program from Brussels that the key to the success of any such protocol would be avoiding lengthy consultations once a hostile act has been attributed. “The most important thing about the protocol becoming more effective and more efficient is that there will be measures that will be automatic,” he said. “So that means that if Russia takes a certain step, then the whole chain of actions will be automatically triggered without discussions, without committees, without considerations –the EU would just adopt certain measures such as sanctions, border controls, special security measures and so on.” EU to ‘complement’ NATO? Europe has been hit by a wave of hybrid warfare incidents, including sabotage and arson, in recent months, with many attributed to Russia. Leaders across the continent are warning that a significant provocation on EU and NATO territory could be in the pipeline. Some EU member states are reportedly concerned that the newly proposed mechanism could clash with NATO’s Article 4 clause, which says alliance members should come to each other’s aid in case of an attack. Zaborowski said the EU mechanism would probably complement NATO’s own measures rather than compete with them – a point that was also emphasized by Kallas on Monday afternoon. “Definitely the EU measures would complement what NATO has been doing in many respects,” Zaborowski said. “The countermeasures against the hybrid air attacks are such in nature that the European Union is better disposed to actually tackle them than NATO itself. “NATO is dealing with strictly military threats, whereas the European Union has at its disposal financial, legal and other civilian instruments, which could be just as painful as […] a military response.”
