On 9 October, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging EU member states to take coordinated action in response to Russian provocations and hybrid threats. The document explicitly states that EU countries have the right to shoot down any aerial targets that illegally violate their borders.
The resolution, supported by 469 MEPs, condemns Russia’s “reckless and escalatory actions” — including violations of the airspace of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania, as well as drone attacks on infrastructure in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The European Parliament emphasized that such incidents are part of a systematic hybrid war waged against the European Union.
MEPs endorsed the creation of a “drone wall” — a unified air defense system along the EU’s eastern flank — and the Eastern Flank Watch initiative aimed at monitoring hybrid threats. The resolution also states that “the EU and its member states should take coordinated, unified, and proportionate actions in response to any airspace violations, including by shooting down aerial threats.”
The European Parliament called on the EU Council and the European Commission to strengthen the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia and to extend them to countries helping Moscow circumvent restrictions — including Belarus, Iran, and North Korea. MEPs also demand sanctions against Chinese companies supplying dual-use goods to Russia, particularly those used in drone and missile production.
The European Parliament stressed that Russia’s hybrid and subversive actions can be considered a form of “state-sponsored terrorism,” even if they do not reach the threshold of an armed attack.