European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that incidents such as last month’s Russian drone sabotage in Germany had become the “new normal”, marking a further escalation of Russian activity on European Union soil.
"Leipzig marks a new escalation on European Union soil directly attributed to Russia, but it is part of a broader pattern of increasingly dangerous incidents," she said, alongside NATO's Secretary-General Mark Rutte at a press conference in Brussels.
If the attack had succeeded, "this would have resulted in enormous damage, and possibly even loss of life."
"Europeans are faced with a hard truth, that this is the new normal," she said, adding that the EU should respond to Russia's "recklessness, faster and better."
Von der Leyen said Europe already had "rapid response teams" able to respond to those attacks and was ready to add more sanctions to the existing package against Russia. Foreign ministers met in Ireland to discuss the proposed additional listings.
