London, Sep 2 (IANS) The European Union (EU) have summoned Russian Ambassadors over the Leipzig attacks, the block’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the press on Wednesday prior to the Informal meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers in Wicklow, Ireland.
Kallas said, “We have already summoned Russian ambassadors, so have also many Member States, and we will discuss what more can we do.”
Her remarks came after a drone fitted with an unidentified explosive device was found at Germany’s Leipzig Airport in early August. The attack failed due to a malfunction of its detonator. Shortly after, a DHL cargo plane collided with a flying object at high speed and then was safely diverted to Hannover. Investigators later found damage on the DHL plane consistent with a drone strike, Xinhua news agency reported. A third drone and military-grade explosives connected to the incident was discovered last week in the vicinity of the airport, according to local media.
The German government said on Tuesday that it holds Russia responsible for the incident, ordering a series of retaliatory measures including the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Bonn.
“We have already in the pipeline 1,600 listings for the military complex of Russia, and maybe there are more to be added,” Kallas said, adding that the matter will be discussed on the informal meeting but it is “not something that we are deciding today.”
The German government on Tuesday said that it holds Russia responsible for last month’s attempted drone attack at Leipzig Airport, ordering a series of retaliatory measures including the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Bonn.
The government has concluded “that Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack in Leipzig on August 4,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said during a joint press statement with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in Berlin.
Germany will close the Russian Consulate General in Bonn on September 18, terminate the contract with the Russian House in Berlin, and summon the Russian ambassador, Wadephul said.
He added that the government is rolling out a broader package of retaliatory measures, including expanded EU sanctions with travel bans and stricter entry controls for Russian nationals.
“Germany has increasingly become the target of hybrid attackers,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week, noting that the government is working intensively to identify those behind the attack.
He vowed that the perpetrators would pay a price.
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