French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday warned that hybrid attacks cannot go unanswered across Europe over the alleged Russian drone attack at Leipzig Airport in Germany.
"Germany has established Russia's responsibility for the serious incidents that occurred in Leipzig in early August. These hybrid attacks are multiplying in Europe. They cannot go unanswered," Macron wrote on US social media platform X.
He expressed France's full solidarity with Germany and voiced support for the adoption of new European sanctions against Russia.
"In the face of this escalation, we must be united, determined, and strengthen our support for Ukraine. France will continue to play its full part," Macron noted.
Germany on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig Airport last month and unveiled extensive measures and sanctions against Moscow.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at a news conference in Berlin that investigators had found the plot was planned by Russian intelligence services and carried out by low-level operatives.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, speaking at the same briefing, said he had summoned Russia’s ambassador to deliver Berlin’s protest and notify Moscow of the government’s response.
“The Russian Consulate General in Bonn will close on Sept. 18. The agreement regarding the Russian House in Berlin is being terminated,” Wadephul said. The Soviet-era cultural center in the capital has long been viewed by Western officials as a possible cover for intelligence work.
Leipzig Airport is a major freight hub and a key logistics node for military cargo, including Ukrainian Antonov flights. Officials have described the foiled drone strike as an attempt to disrupt that support chain without launching a conventional military attack.
German authorities told the media last week that the August attempt on a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane was more serious than first reported. The drone had been rigged with explosives, and investigators later concluded that several drones were involved, not one.
Russia previously rejected claims of assassinations, sabotage, drone incursions and spying in countries allied with Ukraine, accusing Western governments of stoking “anti-Russian paranoia.”