Brussels: The European Union Council on Monday approved conclusions on advancing the EU’s capacity to counter hybrid threats, reaffirming the EU’s determination to use all available tools to prevent, deter, and respond to hybrid campaigns targeting the Union, its member states, and its partners irrespective of their origin, scale, and intensity.
According to Emirates News Agency, the Council condemned persistent hybrid activities by state and non-state actors aimed at undermining the security and stability of the EU, its member states, and its partners. It strongly denounced sabotage, including against critical infrastructure, malicious cyber activities, foreign information manipulation and interference, election interference, and the instrumentalisation of migration.
“Hybrid threats are increasingly used to test our resilience and undermine our democratic institutions. With these conclusions, the EU sends a clear message: we will act together to further strengthen our preparedness, protect our societies and respond firmly to those who seek to destabilise us,” said Constantinos Kombos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus.
The Council reaffirmed its determination to use all available tools-such as the EU hybrid toolbox, the cyber diplomacy toolbox, and other instruments at the EU’s disposal, ranging from legislation to restrictive measures-and called for their further implementation, strengthening, and development to prevent, deter, and respond to hybrid threats.
This strategy includes increasing the cost of hybrid activity against the EU for those responsible, protecting critical infrastructure, defending democratic processes and institutions, countering election interference, and fostering cooperation with international organizations, likeminded partners, the private sector, academia, and civil society.
The Council also reiterated the need to support partners affected by hybrid threats, particularly candidate and potential candidate countries. Hybrid threats usually refer to coordinated harmful activities planned and carried out with malign intent, aimed at undermining a target through various means while remaining difficult to detect and defend against.
Both state and non-state actors are deploying increasingly complex and sophisticated hybrid tactics, posing a threat not only to security but also to democracy by targeting its core values and aiming to fracture society and undermine political decision-making.
Following the adoption of the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence in March 2022, the EU established an EU hybrid toolbox comprising preventive, cooperative, stability-building, restrictive, and support measures as set out in the June 2022 Council conclusions on a framework for a coordinated EU response to hybrid campaigns.