УКРОПИ

Georgia’s leaders stoke fears of Russian war ahead of pivotal election

The republic of Georgia – which was part of the Soviet Union until independence in 1991 – is preparing for a crucial election on October 26th, which is widely seen as a choice between a future aligned with the West or Russia. Western powers accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of a backsliding of democracy. As Henry Ridgwell reports from the capital, Tbilisi, the party’s leaders are seeking ahead of the election to capitalize on Georgian voters’ fears of war. (Camera: Henry Ridgwell)
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Frontex: Irregular EU border crossings fell 42% this year

Warsaw, — Detected irregular crossings into the European Union fell 42% in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, EU border agency Frontex said on Tuesday.

Frontex released its latest statistics shortly before a summit of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels later this week, where immigration is among topics high on the agenda.

The number of detected crossings into the EU “fell by 42 percent to 166,000 in the first nine months of this year,” Frontex said.

It said the biggest falls were along the routes through the Western Balkans and Central Mediterranean.

Nearly 17,000 would-be asylum seekers crossed into the 27-member EU via the Western Balkans, a 79% drop. Some 47,700 entered via the Central Mediterranean, a fall of 64%.

By contrast, Frontex said crossings via the Western African route had doubled, reaching over 30,600 in the first nine months of the year.

The biggest rise was registered at the EU’s eastern land borders, including into Poland. Almost 13,200 crossings were detected, a 192% increase on January-September 2023.

Poland and its Central European neighbor, the Czech Republic, called last week for EU restrictions that are tougher than those in the bloc’s new pact on migration and asylum, which is due to come into force in 2026.

The rules, adopted in May, aim to share the responsibility for hosting asylum seekers across the 27 countries in the EU and to speed up the deportation of people deemed ineligible to stay.
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Microsoft: Cybercriminals increasingly help Russia, China, Iran target US, allies

WASHINGTON — Russia, China and Iran are increasingly relying on criminal networks to lead cyberespionage and hacking operations against adversaries such as the United States, according to a report on digital threats published Tuesday by Microsoft.

The growing collaboration between authoritarian governments and criminal hackers has alarmed national security officials and cybersecurity experts. They say it represents the increasingly blurred lines between actions directed by Beijing or the Kremlin aimed at undermining rivals and the illicit activities of groups typically more interested in financial gain.

In one example, Microsoft’s analysts found that a criminal hacking group with links to Iran infiltrated an Israeli dating site and then tried to sell or ransom the personal information it obtained. Microsoft concluded the hackers had two motives: to embarrass Israelis and make money.

In another, investigators identified a Russian criminal network that infiltrated more than 50 electronic devices used by the Ukrainian military in June, apparently seeking access and information that could aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There was no obvious financial motive for the group, aside from any payment they may have received from Russia.

Marriage of convenience

For nations such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, teaming up with cybercriminals offers a marriage of convenience with benefits for both sides. Governments can boost the volume and effectiveness of cyber activities without added cost. For the criminals, it offers new avenues for profit and the promise of government protection.

“We’re seeing in each of these countries this trend toward combining nation-state and cybercriminal activities,” said Tom Burt, Microsoft’s vice president of customer security and trust.

So far there is no evidence suggesting that Russia, China and Iran are sharing resources with each other or working with the same criminal networks, Burt said. But he said the growing use of private cyber “mercenaries” shows how far America’s adversaries will go to weaponize the internet.

Microsoft’s report analyzed cyber threats between July 2023 and June 2024, looking at how criminals and foreign nations use hacking, spear phishing, malware and other techniques to gain access and control over a target’s system. The company says its customers face more than 600 million such incidents every day.

Russia focused much of its cyber operations on Ukraine, trying to enter military and government systems and spreading disinformation designed to undermine support for the war among its allies.

Ukraine has responded with its own cyber efforts, including one last week that knocked some Russian state media outlets offline.

US elections targeted

Networks tied to Russia, China and Iran have also targeted American voters, using fake websites and social media accounts to spread false and misleading claims about the 2024 election. Analysts at Microsoft agree with the assessment of U.S. intelligence officials who say Russia is targeting the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, while Iran is working to oppose former President Donald Trump.

Iran has also hacked into Trump’s campaign and sought, unsuccessfully, to interest Democrats in the material. Federal officials have also accused Iran of covertly supporting American protests over the war in Gaza.

Russia and Iran will likely accelerate the pace of their cyber operations targeting the U.S. as election day approaches, Burt said.

China, meanwhile, has largely stayed out of the presidential race, focusing its disinformation on down-ballot races for Congress or state and local office. Microsoft found networks tied to Beijing also continue to target Taiwan and other countries in the region.

Denials from all parties

In response, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said allegations that China partners with cybercriminals are groundless and accused the U.S. of spreading its own “disinformation about the so-called Chinese hacking threats.”

In a statement, spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that “our position is consistent and clear. China firmly opposes and combats cyberattacks and cybertheft in all forms.”

Russia and Iran have also rejected accusations that they’re using cyber operations to target Americans. Messages left with representatives of those three nations and North Korea were not returned Monday.

Efforts to disrupt foreign disinformation and cyber capabilities have escalated along with the threat, but the anonymous, porous nature of the internet sometimes undercuts the effectiveness of the response.

Federal authorities recently announced plans to seize hundreds of website domains used by Russia to spread election disinformation and to support efforts to hack former U.S. military and intelligence figures. But investigators at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab found that sites seized by the government can easily and quickly be replaced.

Within one day of the Department of Justice seizing several domains in September, for example, researchers spotted 12 new websites created to take their place. One month later, they continue to operate.
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Russia, China bolster defense ties at ‘substantive’ talks 

Russia and China held “substantive” defense and military talks to bolster ties, Russia’s defense minister said on Tuesday, as Moscow and Beijing cement a “no limits” partnership and step up criticism of U.S. efforts to extend its influence in Asia. 

“The military departments of Russia and China are united in their assessments of global processes, and they have a common understanding of what needs to be done in the current situation,” a post on the Russian defense ministry’s Telegram messaging app cited Defense Minister Andrei Belousov as saying.  

Belousov said he met with China’s central military commission vice chairman, Zhang Youxia for “very substantive” talks.  

China’s Defense Ministry said after the meeting that both sides hope to deepen and expand military relations and maintain high-level exchanges. 

Belousov’s visit to Beijing took place as China’s military vowed to take further action against Taiwan if needed after staging a day of war games it said were a warning to “separatist acts” and which drew condemnation from the Taiwanese and U.S. governments. 

China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing less than three weeks before his forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War II. 

In May this year, Putin and China’s Xi Jinping pledged a “new era” of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world. 

Putin and Xi also agreed to deepen their “strategic partnership,” Belousov said, without providing detail, adding he is confident that “fruitful work and the adoption of significant, weighty decisions are ahead.” 

Russia said last week it was standing alongside China on Asian issues, including the criticism of the U.S. drive to extend its influence and “deliberate attempts” to inflame the situation around Taiwan.  

The U.S. says China is supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by supplying so-called dual use goods, including microelectronics, that can help it build weapons. China says it has not provided weaponry to any party, and that normal trade with Russia should not be interrupted or restricted. 

(Reuters reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Additional reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue and Lincoln Feast.) 
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Iran condemns EU, UK sanctions on Tehran, denies providing ballistic missiles to Russia

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran condemned new EU and British sanctions on Tehran and denied providing ballistic missiles to Russia, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said in a post on X on Tuesday.

The European Union agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on seven people and seven organizations, including airline Iran Air, for their links to Iranian transfers of ballistic missiles to Russia.

The listings also include Saha Airlines and Mahan Air and Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari.

At the same time, Britain added nine new designations under its Iran sanctions regime.

Last month, the United States, citing intelligence it said had been shared with allies, said Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran for its war in Ukraine.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson denied on Tuesday his country provided ballistic missiles to Russia.

“Some European countries and the UK have unfortunately claimed without evidence that Iran has militarily intervened in this conflict which is totally refuted,” Baghaei said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Baghaei condemned the fresh sanctions saying that imposing new sanctions by the European Union and the UK on Iranian individuals and entities goes against international law.

Also facing sanctions under the EU move are prominent officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and the managing directors of Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries and Aerospace Industries Organization.

The sanctions include an asset freeze and a travel ban to the European Union.
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Ailing and silenced in prison, Belarus activist symbolizes the nation’s repression

TALLINN, Estonia — The last time any of Maria Kolesnikova’s family had contact with the imprisoned Belarusian opposition activist was more than 18 months ago. Fellow inmates at the penal colony reported hearing her plead for medical help from inside her tiny, smelly cell.

Her father, Alexander Kolesnikov, told The Associated Press by phone from Minsk that he knows she’s seriously ill and tried to visit her several months ago at the facility near Gomel, where she is serving an 11-year sentence, but has failed whenever he goes there.

On his last attempt, he said the warden told him, “If she doesn’t call or doesn’t write, that means she doesn’t want to.”

The 42-year-old musician-turned-activist is known to have been hospitalized in Gomel in May or June, but the outcome was unclear, said a former prisoner who identified herself only as Natalya because she feared retaliation from authorities.

“I can only pray to God that she is still alive,” Kolesnikov said in an interview. “The authorities are ignoring my requests for a meeting and for letters — it is a terrible feeling of impotence for a father.”

Kolesnikova gained prominence when mass protests erupted in Belarus after the widely disputed August 2020 election gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. With her close-cropped hair, broad smile and a gesture of forming her outstretched hands into the shape of a heart, she often was seen at the front of the demonstrations.

She became an even greater symbol of defiance in September of that year when Belarusian authorities tried to deport her. Driven to the Ukrainian border, she briefly broke away from security forces in the neutral zone at the frontier and tore up her passport, then walked back into Belarus. She was convicted a year later of charges including conspiracy to seize power.

Natalya, whose cell was next to Kolesnikova’s before being released in August, said she had not heard her talking to guards for six months. Other inmates heard Kolesnikova’s pleas for medical assistance, she said, but reported that doctors did not come for “a very long time.”

In November 2022, Kolesnikova was moved to an intensive care ward to undergo surgery for a perforated ulcer. Other prisoners become aware of her movements because “it feels like martial law has been declared” in the cellblock, Natalya said. “Other prisoners are strictly forbidden not only to talk, but even to exchange glances with Maria.”

Her sister, Tatiana Khomich, said she was told by former inmates that the 5 feet, 9 inches Kolesnikova weighed only about 45 kilograms (100 pounds).

“They are slowly killing Maria, and I consider that this is a critical period because no one can survive in such conditions,” said Khomich, who lives outside Belarus.

The last time Kolesnikova wrote from prison was in February 2023. Letters to her “are ripped up before her eyes by prison personnel,” her sister said, relaying accounts from other former inmates.

Kolesnikova, who before the 2020 protests was a classical flutist who was especially knowledgeable about baroque music, is one of several major Lukashenko opponents to disappear behind bars.

The prisons department of the Belarusian Interior Ministry refused to comment on Kolesnikova’s case.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee has repeatedly demanded Belarusian authorities take “urgent protective measures” in relation to Kolesnikova and other political prisoners held incommunicado. In September, the European Parliament demanded that Belarus release all political prisoners.

Former inmates say Kolesnikova wore a yellow tag that indicates a political prisoner. That marks them for additional abuse by guards and officials, rights advocates say.

The human rights group Viasna counts about 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus, including the group’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder, Ales Bialiatsky. At least six have died behind bars.

“It was too late to save Alexei Navalny (from prison in Russia), and it was too late for six people in Belarus. We and the Western world don’t have much time to save Maria’s life,” Khomich said.

Amnesty International has begun a campaign to raise awareness about Kolesnikova’s fate, urging people to take up her plight with Western officials and politicians.

Other prominent opposition figures who are imprisoned and have not been heard from in a year or more include Siarhei Tsikhanouski, who planned to challenge Lukashenko in the 2020 election but was imprisoned; his wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, took his place on the ballot and was forced to leave the country the day after the vote.

Aspiring opposition candidate Viktar Babaryka also was imprisoned before the election as his popularity among prospective voters soared. Kolesnikova was his campaign manager but then joined forces with Tsikhanouskaya. Prominent opposition figure Mikola Statkevich and Kolesnikova’s lawyer, Maxim Znak, are imprisoned and have not contacted the outside world since the winter of 2023.

Lukashenko denies Belarus has any political prisoners. At the same time, in recent months he has unexpectedly released 115 prisoners whose cases had political elements; those released had health problems, wrote petitions for pardons and repented.

Belarus is deeply integrated with Russia, and some observers believe Lukashenko is concerned about the extent of his dependence on Moscow, hoping to restore some ties with the European Union by releasing political prisoners ahead of a presidential election next year.

“Minsk is returning to the practice of bargaining with the West to try to soften sanctions and achieve at least partial recognition of the results of the upcoming presidential election,” said Belarusian analyst Alexander Friedman. “Lukashenko’s regime is interested in not becoming part of Russia and therefore wants at least some communication with the West, offering to talk about political prisoners.”

Lukashenko’s critics and human rights activists say they see no real change in government policy since all leading pro-democracy figures are still behind bars and authorities have seized three times as many opposition activists to refill the prisons.

“It is difficult to consider these pardons as a real thaw since the repressions continue, but the West should encourage Lukashenko to continue releasing political prisoners,” Khomich said. “The regime is sending clear signals to Western countries about its readiness to release people, and it’s very important that [the signal] is heard, and the opportunity is seized.”

 
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Europe’s water security under threat, environment agency warns   

Copenhagen, Denmark — Pollution, habitat degradation, climate change and overuse of freshwater resources are putting a strain on Europe, with only a third of its surface water in good health, the European Environment Agency warned  Tuesday.

“The health of Europe’s waters is not good. Our waters face an unprecedented set of challenges that threatens Europe’s water security,” EEA executive director Leena Yla-Mononen said in a statement.

Only 37% of Europe’s surface water bodies achieved “good” or “high” ecological status, a measure of aquatic ecosystem health, the EEA report said.

Meanwhile, only 29% of surface waters achieved “good” chemical status over the 2015-21 period, according to data reported by EU member states.

Europe’s groundwaters — the source of most drinking water on the continent — fared better, with 77% enjoying “good” chemical status.

Good chemical status means the water is free of excessive pollution from chemical nutrients and toxic substances like PFAS and microplastics.

Surface water is threatened by air pollution — such as coal burning and car emissions — as well as the agriculture industry, whose dumped waste contaminates the soil.

“European agriculture needs to increase its use of more sustainable organic and agro-ecological practices, accompanied by incentives and a change in our food and dietary habits,” the report said.

The European agency analyzed 120,000 surface water bodies and 3.8 million square kilometers (1.5 million square miles) of groundwater body areas in 19 EU countries and Norway.

It called on EEA member states to halve their use of pesticides by 2030.

“We need to redouble our efforts to restore the health of our valued rivers, lakes, coastal waters and other water bodies, and to make sure this vital resource is resilient and secure for generations to come,” Yla-Mononen said. 

Climate change effects, including extreme droughts and flooding, and the overuse of freshwater resources are putting a strain on Europe’s lakes, rivers, coastal waters and groundwaters “like never before,” the EEA said.

Governments must prioritize reducing water consumption and restoring ecosystems, it said.
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Britain to allow drones to inspect power lines, wind turbines

london — Britain’s aviation regulator said Tuesday that it would allow drones to inspect infrastructure such as power lines and wind turbines, a move the authority has described as a significant milestone. 

The U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had said earlier this year that it wanted to permit more drone flying for such activities as well as for deliveries and emergency services. It selected in August six projects to test it. 

Drones inspecting infrastructure will now be able to fly distances beyond remote flyers’ ability to see them. 

“While some drones have been flying beyond visual line of sight in the U.K. for several years, these flights are primarily trials under strict restrictions,” the CAA said. 

Under the CAA’s new policy, some drones will be able to remain at low heights close to infrastructure where there is little or no potential for any other aircraft to operate. It will also reduce costs, the CAA said. 

Drones will inspect power lines for damage, carry out maintenance checks of wind turbines and even be used as “flying guard dogs” for site security. 

The CAA will work with several operators to test and evaluate the policy, which according to the regulator’s director, Sophie O’Sullivan, “paves the way for new ways drones will improve everyday life.” 
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Italy sends 1st migrant ship to Albania, rights groups warn of ‘dangerous precedent’

ROME — Italy is transferring the first group of migrants to Albania, the Interior Ministry said Monday, as part of a contentious plan to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders. 

A naval ship departed from the island of Lampedusa with 16 men — 10 from Bangladesh and six from Egypt — who were rescued at sea after departing from Libya. The ship is expected to arrive Wednesday morning, a ministry spokesman said. 

Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government formally opened the two centers in Albania Friday where Italy plans to process thousands of male migrants requesting asylum after being intercepted in international waters while trying to cross to Europe. 

The centers can accommodate up to 400 migrants at first, with that expected to increase to 880 in a few weeks, according to Italian officials. 

Women, children, older people and those who are ill or victims of torture will be accommodated in Italy. Families will not be separated. 

The five-year deal was endorsed last year by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as an example of “out-of-box thinking” in tackling the migration issue, but human rights groups say it sets a dangerous precedent. 

A spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency, which has expressed serious concerns, said Monday that one of its teams was conducting an “independent mission” on board the ship to monitor the screening process. 

The agency, also known as UNHCR, has agreed to supervise the first three months to help “safeguard the rights and dignity of those subject to it.” 

The agreement, signed last year, calls for Albania to house up to 3,000 male migrants while Italy fast-tracks their asylum claims. The migrants will retain their right under international and EU law to apply for asylum in Italy and have their claims processed there. 

The two centers will cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years. The facilities will be run by Italy and are under Italian jurisdiction, while Albanian guards will provide external security. 

Meloni and her right-wing allies have long demanded that European countries share more of the migration burden.
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Paris Motor Show opens during brewing EV trade war between EU, China

Paris — The Auto manufacturers competing to persuade drivers to go electric are rolling out cheaper, more tech-rich models at the Paris Motor Show, targeting everyone from luxury clients to students yet to receive their driving licenses. 

The biennial show has long been a major industry showcase, tracing its history to 1898. 

Chinese manufacturers are attending in force, despite European Union threats to punitively tax imports of their electric vehicles in a brewing trade war with Beijing. Long-established European manufacturers are fighting back with new efforts to win consumers who have balked at high-priced EVs. 

Here’s a look at the show’s opening day on Monday. 

More new models from China 

Chinese EV startups Leapmotor and XPeng showcased models they said incorporate artificial intelligence technology. 

Leapmotor, founded in 2015, unveiled a compact electric-powered SUV, the B10. It will be manufactured in Poland for European buyers, said Leapmotor’s head of product planning, Zhong Tianyue. Leapmotor didn’t announce a price for the B10 that will launch next year. 

Leapmotor also said a smaller electric commuter car it showcased in Paris, the T03, will retail from a competitive 18,900 euros ($20,620). Those sold in France will be imported from China but assembled in Poland, Zhong said. 

Leapmotor also announced a starting price of 36,400 euros ($39,700) in Europe for its larger family car, the C10. 

Sales outside of China are through a joint venture with Stellantis, the world’s fourth largest carmaker. Leapmotor said European sales started in September. 

Xpeng braces for tariff hit 

Attending the Paris show for the first time, the decade-old Chinese EV manufacturer XPeng unveiled a sleek sedan, the P7+. 

CEO He Xiaopeng said XPeng aims to deliver in Europe from next year. Intended European prices for the P7+ weren’t given, but the CEO said they will start in China at 209,800 yuan, the equivalent of 27,100 euros, or $29,600. 

XPeng’s president, Brian Gu, said the EU’s threatened import duties could complicate the company’s expansion plans if Brussels and Beijing don’t find an amicable solution to their trade dispute before an end-of-October deadline. 

Brussels says subsidies help Chinese companies to unfairly undercut EU industry prices, with Chinese-built electric cars jumping from 3.9% of the EV market in 2020 to 25% by September 2023. 

“The tariff will put a lot of pressure on our business model. It’s a direct hit on our margin, which is already not very high,” Gu said. 

Vehicles for young teens 

Manufacturers of small electric vehicles that can be driven in Europe without a license are finding a growing market among teens as young as 14 and their parents who, for safety reasons, prefer that they zip around on four wheels than on motorbikes. 

Several manufacturers of the two-seaters are showcasing in Paris, including France’s Citroen. The starting price for its Ami, or “Friend,” is just under 8,000 euros ($8,720). Launched in France in 2020, the plastic-shelled vehicle is now also sold in other European markets and in Turkey, Morocco and South America. 

“It’s not a car. It’s a mobility object,” said Citroen’s product chief for the Ami, Alain Le Gouguec. 

European legislation allows teenagers without a full license to drive the Ami and similar buggies from age 14 after an eight-hour training course. They’re limited to a top speed of 45 kilometers per hour (28 mph). 

The vehicles are also finding markets among adults who lost their license for driving infractions or who never got a full license, and outside cities in areas with poor transport. 

Renault subsidiary Mobilize said that even in winter’s energy-sapping cold its two-seater, no-license, plastic-shelled Duo can go 100 kilometers (over 60 miles) between charges. A phone app acts as its door and ignition key. 

Another French manufacturer, Ligier, sells its no-license two-seaters in both diesel and electric versions.
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Polish leader Tusk defends decision to suspend asylum law

Warsaw — Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday defended a plan to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as human rights and civil society organizations express concerns about the move.  

Poland has struggled since 2021 with migration pressures on its border with Belarus — which is also part of the European Union’s external border.  

“It is our right and our duty to protect the Polish and European border,” Tusk said Monday on X. “Its security will not be negotiated.”  

Successive Polish governments have accused Belarus and Russia of organizing the mass transfer of migrants from the Middle East and Africa to the EU’s eastern borders to destabilize the West. They view it as part of a hybrid war that they accuse Moscow of waging against the West as it continues its nearly three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  

Some migrants have applied for asylum in Poland, but before the requests are processed, they travel across the EU’s border-free travel zone to reach Germany or other countries in Western Europe. Germany, where security fears are rising after a spate of extremist attacks, has recently responded by expanding border controls at all of its borders to fight irregular migration. Tusk called Germany’s move “unacceptable.”  

Tusk announced his plan to temporarily suspend the right for migrants to seek asylum at a convention of his Civic Coalition on Saturday. It will be part of a strategy that will be presented to a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.  

Dozens of nongovernmental organizations urged Tusk in an open letter to respect the right to asylum guaranteed by international conventions, which Poland signed, including the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and Poland’s own constitution.  

They argued that fundamental rights and freedoms must be respected.  

“It is thanks to them that thousands of Polish women and men found shelter abroad in the difficult times of communist totalitarianism, and we have become one of the greatest beneficiaries of these rights,” the letter said.  

It was signed by Amnesty International and 45 other organizations that represent a range of humanitarian, legal and civic causes.  

Tusk argued that Finland also suspended accepting asylum applications after facing migration pressure on its border with Russia.  

“The right to asylum is used instrumentally in this war and has nothing to do with human rights,” Tusk said on X on Sunday.  

A spokesperson for the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, acknowledged the challenge posed by Belarus, but also Russia, and didn’t explicitly criticize Tusk’s approach.  

“It is important and imperative that the union is protecting the external borders, and in particular from Russia and Belarus, both countries that have put in the past three years, a lot of pressure on the external borders,” Anitta Hipper said during a briefing Monday. “This is something that is undermining the security of the EU member states and of the union as a whole.”  

But she also underlined that EU member countries are legally obliged to allow people to apply for international protection.  

Hipper noted that the commission intends to “work on ensuring that the member states have the necessary tools to respond to these types of hybrid attacks.” 
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EU targets Iran officials, airlines for supplying drones, missiles to Russia 

BRUSSELS — The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Iran’s deputy defense minister, senior members of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and three airlines over allegations that they supplied drones, missiles and other equipment to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. 

Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari is one of seven senior officials now banned from traveling in Europe and whose assets in the bloc were frozen. The EU said he “is involved in the development of Iran’s [drone] and missile program,” given his high-level defense role. 

Iran Air, Mahan Air and Saha Airlines had their assets frozen. The EU said their planes were “used repeatedly to transfer Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles and related technologies to Russia, which have been used in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” 

EU foreign ministers endorsed the sanctions at a meeting in Luxembourg. 

In March, the bloc had warned that “were Iran to transfer ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia for use against Ukraine, the EU would be prepared to respond swiftly, including with new and significant restrictive measures.” 

EU member countries, except for Hungary, have been supplying weapons and ammunition as well as economic and other support to Ukraine worth some 118 billion euros ($129 billion) since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.  
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