An escalating dirty-tricks campaign has rattled Europe this week, leaving government officials and company executives convinced a barrage of bomb threats and cyberattacks is coordinated. The thing they can’t figure out: Who is behind it?
U.S. intelligence officials have briefed European counterparts that the attack was the first step toward escalating a sabotage campaign against NATO’s European members ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin , The Wall Street Journal has reported. The denials—from the Kremlin, Russia’s foreign ministry and its embassies in Europe—have done little to soothe the suspicion. Over the past year, European leaders have repeatedly blamed Russia for a string of attacks on European soil. In August, drones carrying explosives were flown into a German cargo airport in Leipzig but failed to detonate. “I hope that the situation ends soon, but we cannot do anything else than to follow the strict procedures that we have. It named two flights already en route to the Italian capital: a Finnair aircraft set to arrive from Helsinki and a second from Dublin operated by Aer Lingus.
“It’s a disgraceful attack on the media, on free media, and unfortunately, probably where it comes from, they don’t really appreciate the importance of free media,” said Kevin Bakhurst, head of Ireland’s biggest broadcaster, RTÉ. “The most likely conclusion is that we are facing an attempt at hybrid aggression and psychological warfare,” Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said in an interview with a local broadcaster after bomb threats were sent to Madrid Airport. “It is in some ways easy to create a threat, because with only one email or a phone call, you can create a problem,” said Luis Gallego, chief executive of IAG, which owns airlines including British Airways and Ireland’s Aer Lingus. Pilots on the latter were instructed to redirect to a nearby airfield—a military base in the north of France—but when the pilot initially refused, stating a preference to continue to a civilian airport, jet fighters were scrambled to force the diversion, according to French officials. The email, which started with a simple “Hello,” declared that explosive devices had been placed on both aircraft and would trigger within an hour. “They are heading to your airport,” the email read, according to a person familiar with its contents. “Today your sky will be red.”
