U.S. NATO envoy Whitaker: Members should not tolerate hybrid attacks

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said alliance members should not tolerate deliberate hybrid warfare actions and promised U.S. support for countries facing such incidents.

Whitaker called last month’s attempted drone attack on Germany’s Leipzig-Halle airport more worrying than other recent incidents involving NATO members. Those incidents included Russian drones intended for Ukraine that veered off course, Reuters reported.

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Then you have what I would call more concerning hybrid actions, like those we saw in Leipzig and Poland.

“Then you have what I would call more concerning hybrid actions, like those we saw in Leipzig and Poland,” Whitaker said on the sidelines of a business conference in Italy. NATO members, he added, must remain prepared and alert and send a strong message when confronted with such challenges.

“If we can determine who is doing it, and Germany has done so, we will make clear that it is unacceptable and that we will not tolerate it,” he said. Whitaker warned that critical infrastructure, including energy facilities, could be targeted. He said the response would primarily be national, while the United States would support countries confronting such actions.

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If we can determine who is doing it, and Germany has done so, we will make clear that it is unacceptable and that we will not tolerate it.