Nato is considering “pre-emptive” action against Russia following a string of hybrid attacks on Europe, a senior official in the alliance has warned.
Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, who serves as chair of the Nato Military Committee, said the alliance may need to adopt a more “aggressive” approach to deter Moscow from continuing its campaign of drone incursions and cyberattacks in Europe.
A recent Financial Times investigation revealed how Nato has been put on high alert after three vessels in the Baltic Sea were accused of dragging anchors to damage energy and communication cables, with a total of 11 incidents recorded.
Other incidents include regular cyberattacks on multiple European countries and incursions of Russian drones into Nato airspace.
Mr Dragone told the FT that the alliance was “studying everything” in deciding how to respond.
“On cyber, we are kind of reactive. Being more aggressive or being proactive instead of reactive is something that we are thinking about,” he said.
He acknowledged that such an approach would be unusual for Nato, but that new tactics may be required as the war in Ukraine nears its fourth year.
Mr Dragone argued a “pre-emptive strike” by Nato could be considered a “defensive action”, despite it being “further away from our normal way of thinking and behaviour”.
“Being more aggressive compared with the aggressivity of our counterpart could be an option. [The issues are] legal framework, jurisdictional framework, who is going to do this?”
