00:01Thank you. Mr. President, honorable members, let me start by thanking rapporteur Raza Junkiewiczene
00:09for her timely report on Russia's hybrid warfare in Europe. It captures well the situation we face
00:17and more importantly the urgency to act. Since Russia began its full-scale invasion in Ukraine
00:252022, there has been steady increase in hybrid attacks against Europe. We have seen Russia's
00:33dangerous, reckless at full display past 48 hours. Russian warship fired flares at Danish helicopter.
00:43NATO jets had to shoot down a drone over Lithuania. Russia struck a passenger train near the border
00:51with Ukraine and Poland pulled a drone from its waters. We need to be clear-eyed. Those are not
00:59accidents. They are calculated attempts by Russia to weaken our resolve, test our unity and play with
01:08fears of escalation. Europe will not dial back its support for Ukraine. As Russia escalates,
01:15we stand firm in supporting Ukraine and adding more pressure on Russia. Russia adapts itself
01:23depending on the country it is targeting. In some, for example, it models with the information space,
01:30exploits societal divisions and interferes in elections. Elsewhere, attacks are physical,
01:37targeting military infrastructure, public transport and critical infrastructure. Because of this,
01:43our combined intelligence should cover the entire Russian hybrid toolbox. This is why,
01:51as the report underlines, intelligence sharing is vital. I can only encourage member states to do
01:58more and make the best use of our intelligence and situation center, INSEN, to do so. Despite international
02:05efforts to end the war, Putin chooses to intensify his war of aggression against Ukraine and hostilities
02:14against Europe. And one thing is very clear. Putin will not stop unless he's stopped. So as Russia is willing
02:23to take greater risks, Europe must impose a greater cost. Five examples how we do this.
02:31One, we keep calling out Russia's attacks. Russia has always used ambiguity as a weapon. If we attribute
02:39those attacks, Russia cannot hide and our citizens can see the patterns and understand their playbook too.
02:47For this reason, Germany's investigation, attribution and clear public communication following the
02:53Leipzig attack was important. In July, we collectively exposed the FSB for cyber regression in Europe. We must do this
03:02work
03:02systematically. Second, as the report also calls for, we sanctioned the instigators. More recently, we sanctioned nine
03:10individuals and four entities. This work must continue as well. And third, we cut Russia's funding
03:18off at the root. EU sanctions have already deprived the Russian economy of one trillion euro. We are now
03:27finalizing the largest number of listings yet. We are also steadily dismantling the shadow fleet. EU naval
03:34operations are taking the lead importing suspected vessels. And thanks to our diplomatic word across the globe
03:42of our EU delegations, fewer countries are allowing these vessels to sail under their flags. Hundreds of ships have
03:51been deflagged as a result of our efforts. We have already cut Russia's diplomatic presence in the EU, put in
03:59place new
03:59requirements for intra-Schengen travel, and capped the Russian mission to the EU at 40 staff. Member States are doing
04:10this as well. Most recently,
04:12Hungary expelled ten Russian diplomats. And there is potential to do more. We can tighten control further over the
04:20movement of Russian diplomats within Schengen. We can ban issuing visas for Russian ex-competence. And we should review the
04:28issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens. We must reduce the pool of people conducting attacks on
04:35European soil. And fifth, we protect our information space. This means faster detection of FIMI,
04:43including with the use of AI power tools, training staff in our delegations, mapping Russia's scam networks for
04:51recruitments and helping partners to dismantle them, and raising the impact of our countermeasures, including sanctions,
04:59law enforcement and takedowns. Honorable members, Europe is much stronger than it was.
05:06Our societies are better prepared, more aware, more vigilant, and more resilient. And our strategic partnership with
05:14NATO now means day to day work together. But the threat of Russian hybrid attacks across Europe is only growing.
05:22Putin is a textbook bully. Moscow's hybrid attacks are designed to intimidate us, paralyze our societies,
05:31and make us hesitate to act. That is precisely what Putin wants. We should not let fear dictate our choices.
05:40We should match the level of these attacks with concrete action and confident response.
05:45Europe's security requires it and citizens expect it. Thank you very much.
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