Europe is at War with Russia.

But not everyone is willing to acknowledge that.

Press conference by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte following a statement by the North Atlantic Council on recent airspace violations by Russia — Photo courtesy of NATO.

I spent the past two days in Brussels, meeting with key officials at NATO Headquarters. I found an organization seized with the fallout from the drone incursions into Poland and the Mig-31s intruding Estonian airspace. Many I spoke with agreed that this was part of a larger Russian effort to test NATO, split Europe, and undermine support for Ukraine. Not everyone agreed.

I will have more on my visit in my “World Review” post tomorrow. For now, I am leaving you with my latest “From Across the Pond” column in Politico Europe.

Russia is at war with Europe. It has been waging an overt war in Ukraine for over a decade now, and with increasing ferocity since its full-scale invasion in 2022. But the fighting in Ukraine is only part of Russia’s wider war against Europe as a whole.

This month’s drone incursions on Poland and Romania and flying into Estonian airspace underscore Moscow’s broader intent: dividing Europe and the U.S., weakening public support for strong military action and ending the continent’s support for Ukraine.

But until now, Europe hadn’t taken this threat seriously. It preferred to view Russia’s escalating operations — the assassinations, cyberattacks, sabotage of critical infrastructure, disinformation campaigns and more — as falling into a gray zone below the level of armed conflict. And its chosen response was to improve resilience while, at times publicly, condemning Russia for its actions.

Essentially, Europe imposed no cost on Moscow for its covert agitation against the continent — and that’s a mistake.

Read the entire article at Politico.eu