Germany's government on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on 4 August using an explosive-laden drone, and announced that it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures against Moscow. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed "full solidarity" with Berlin in response.
The German government on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month using a drone laden with explosives, and announced that it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures against Moscow.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed "full solidarity" with Berlin in response.
"NATO will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all Allies against any threat – including malign actions like those seen in Leipzig and elsewhere across the Alliance," Rutte wrote on X following talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Rutte said Berlin had put forward "clear" evidence of Moscow's role in the "hybrid attack" and welcomed the measures announced in response.
"Russia's attempts to intimidate us, to undermine our unity and our willingness to support Ukraine are futile and will fail," he added.
The European Commission president, who likewise spoke with Merz, vowed to "keep the EU united despite these escalating and serious acts".
"I assured him that the EU stands in full solidarity with Germany in the face of this attack by Russia," von der Leyen wrote on X.
"The German government has taken strong measures. And the message is clear: hybrid attacks will not go without a clear response," she said, adding the bloc was preparing additional sanctions against Russia.
Read moreBomb-disposal robot and drone with explosives discovered at Germany's Leipzig airport
"We are united in our resolve to stand against Russian aggression. We will deter anyone who seeks to undermine our freedom and security," the commission chief wrote.
The drone was found near a Ukrainian plane on the evening of August 4 and the device was defused. German officials said at the time that the incident posed a new level of danger.
Moscow has been widely accused by Western officials of running a campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe with the aim of undermining support for Ukraine and destabilising European nations.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Tuesday that authorities found elements such as the drone configuration, components, explosives and detonator that are “known to us from other Russian hybrid operations and its war against Ukraine". He said that the device pointed to “a high degree of technical expertise” and painstaking planning, but that the execution of the plan appears to have been left to “low-level” agents.
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Dobrindt told reporters in Berlin that intelligence points to “people being involved who acted on behalf of Russian state entities", though he didn't specify which ones. “Taken together, the police investigations, the pattern and intelligence findings prove a Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig airport.”
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that “with the attempted attack in Leipzig, the Russian leadership decided deliberately to do significant damage again to our already massively burdened bilateral relationship". He said that the Russian consulate in Bonn will be closed effective September 18 and the contract under which the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin is operated will be rescinded.
Germany will propose the addition of more people from Russia to European Union sanctions lists “in the context of hybrid attacks", will step up entry controls for people from Russia and “increase pressure on the shadow fleet", a reference to tankers suspected of shipping Russian oil in violation of international sanctions. The EU has sanctioned hundreds of “shadow fleet” ships.
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Russia’s Foreign Ministry told the Interfax news agency that Moscow “would respond” to what it described as Germany’s “anti-Russian decision".
Leipzig/Halle is a major hub for international freight and for providing support to Ukraine. The planes that regularly use it include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.
It is also home to NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution, or SALIS, which is currently operational almost every day in delivering equipment to NATO battle groups along its eastern flank from Finland to Romania and supporting EU and alliance nation missions.
In 2024, an incendiary device ignited at a logistics centre at the airport and set fire to a freight container before it could be loaded onto a cargo plane, part of a plot that Western security officials suspect was organised by Russian intelligence.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
