The European Union’s top diplomat said that Moscow’s aggression against the bloc, including an explosion t
hat occurred in Poland over the weekend, should be considered terrorism.
“These sabotage acts they are organizing on our territories in different countries are extremely, extremely seriou
s,” Kaja Kallas, the high representative for foreign affairs at the European Commission, said at a Bloomberg event Tuesday.
She quoted an earlier statement from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in February when he said that hybrid in
cidents committed by Russia should be called “state-sponsored terrorism.”
Read more: Poland’s Tusk Says Act of Sabotage Behind Railway Explosion
An explosion over the weekend damaged a key Polish rail link used to transport crucial shipments t
o Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk blamed Russia f
or the attack, which he called “probably the most serious” act of sabotage in the country since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
The EU is grappling with how to respond to an onslaught of cyberattacks, signal jamming and misinforma
tion campaigns attributed to Russia. The EU last month adopted its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, step
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ping up its effort to chip away at Moscow’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine.
Kallas, a known Russia hawk, has always been outspoken in calling out Moscow’s hybrid activities, even as
other leaders have been more cautious in ascribing blame for the incidents.
Tusk said on Monday that an explosive device destroyed a railway track close to the village of Mika, around 1
00 kilometers (62 miles) from the capital. Damage was also discovered elsewhere on the same route.
Both acts occurred along a crucial link connecting Warsaw and the Ukrainian border crossing at Dorohusk, Tusk said. The two suspects left Poland for Belaru
s after the attempt to derail the trains. NATO is in close contact with Polish authorities and will await the outcome of the investigation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the accusation. “It wou
ld be very strange if Russia were not the first to be blamed,” he said, adding that “Russophobia is flourishing” in Poland.
“What they are trying to achieve right now is to sow fear within our societies so that we would refrain from helping
Ukraine,” Kallas said in Brussels. She added that Russia wants the EU to stop helping Kyiv because “this is coming to our home turf now.”
In the past Poland has repeatedly blamed Moscow for an alleged increase in the number of cases of sabotage
. The country is also faced with the highest number of foreign cyberattacks in the EU.
Hybrid incidents such as drone incursions have become a near-daily occurrence in Europe in past months, disrupting
air traffic and even provoking the evacuation of a village in Romania.