The Missing Pillar of European Resilience

23 Oct 2026 12:24 PM

Social cohesion is the one pillar of the EU's Hybrid Toolbox with no funding of its own. Countering Russian hybrid warfare means building it locally.

A single fortnight spanning July and August demonstrates the escalation in Russia's hybrid war against Europe. A weapons factory in Italy was damaged by an explosion, while a similar factory in Bulgaria was damaged by fire. Both factories supplied munitions to Ukraine. A drone attack on a Ukraine re-supply aircraft at Leipzig airport in Germany was foiled. And disinformation helped encourage more than 70,000 young Moroccans to storm onto Ceuta beach, deepening Europe's divisions over migration. In each instance, political fingers are being pointed at an intensified summer campaign of sabotage, drone attacks and disinformation.

It is the nature of hybrid warfare that Russia's capacity to harm Europeans is largely shaped by our own vulnerabilities. European governments are mobilising political will and resources to bolster defences and protect critical physical and IT infrastructure from sabotage, cyberattacks and drone incursions. This is critical work. But Russia's hybrid war tactics are not just aimed at weakening European infrastructure – they are aimed at weakening European societies. The goal is to:

Demoralise: by attacking and sabotaging European critical infrastructure, Russia creates discomfort, discontent and fear across the continent, in the hope that this translates into grievances that governments cannot manage. Disinformation campaigns flood the information space with narratives that purport to show our liberal democracies underperforming economically and politically. Election interference, in Germany and Hungary among others, undermines faith in the democratic process itself. Through these low-cost tactics, hybrid warfare is steadily weakening the trust between states and their citizens.

Divide: by finding deeply ingrained grievances and perceived injustices that erode trust between communities, then amplifying them at speed. Russia deploys false-flag provocations, misinformation and election interference to amplify polarisation between communities. An arson attack on the then British Prime Minister’s private residence, was followed by a coordinated Russian disinformation campaign designed to amplify the incident and inflame tensions in British political culture. The placement of pigs' heads in front of nine Parisian mosques was aimed at fuelling pre-existing interreligious tensions in France. Hybrid war works to undermine the horizontal social cohesion that binds different groups together through trust, a sense of belonging and a willingness to help each other. As social cohesion diminishes, our societies become weaker and more conflictual.

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