Russia and China are trying to destabilize NATO through sabotage and cybercrime, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday.
Rutte said the “escalating campaign of Russian hostile actions against NATO countries” will require the alliance to better share its intelligence to coordinate the defense of critical infrastructure.
NATO foreign ministers are in Brussels for a second day of meetings at the alliance’s headquarters focused on Russian and Chinese hybrid attacks.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said there were 500 suspicious incidents in Europe in 2024 and almost 100 of them could be attributed to Russia.
NATO must send a strong message to Moscow that such activities will not be tolerated, Lipavský said. “It’s very dangerous,” he emphasized.
A senior NATO official said on the sidelines of the foreign ministers’ meeting that the alliance fears further serious acts of sabotage and cyber attacks on its territory.
The official said Russia in particular appears increasingly willing to hurt or endanger lives through sabotage in NATO member states.
China, Iran and North Korea are also active in cyber attacks, according to the official. Beijing, like Moscow, is waging an ongoing campaign to spread malware, the official added.
The aim is to commit espionage, but also to cause disruption when tensions rise.
Russia is focusing on critical infrastructure and in particular industrial control systems, the official said.
The official cited as an example a major attack – likely carried out by Iran – on NATO member Albania, which paralyzed the border control system.
The Interior Ministry’s files were also published online, the official explained, including police documents, email exchanges between officers, secret witnesses and Interpol files.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on NATO to step up protection of critical infrastructure such as maritime cables and pipelines through intelligence sharing and increased patrols.
Before the start of the meeting, Baerbock highlighted the Baltic Sea as a priority area where NATO monitoring and cooperation efforts should be increased.
The German Foreign Minister also cited the disruption of global positioning signals (GPS) as another example of Russian hybrid activity.
