Calling Russian Actions in Europe a ‘Hybrid’ War Understates How Dangerous They Are, Latvian President Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 25 – Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs says that it is a serious mistake to call the subversive actions Putin is carrying out in Europe “manifestations of ‘hybrid war’” because that makes these actions “somehow sound less dangerous and more harmless than these actions really are.”

            These actions including sabotage and cyberattacks are intended to punish those who support Ukraine and divide NATO, the Latvian leader says. Unfortunately, in the current environment, Western leaders don’t want to call them acts of war (currenttime.tv/a/prezident-latvii-rinkevichs-my-dopustili-oshibku-nazyvaya-deystviya-rossii-gibridnoy-voynoy-eto-zvuchit-menee-opasno-chem-na-samom-dele/33862766.html).

            While that is perhaps understandable given that these Russian moves are not full-scale war, Rinkēvičs says, the words of these leaders have the effect of allowing Moscow to steal a march on Western countries because Moscow is thereby given the opportunity to make advances by military means that would otherwise lead to a united front of opposition.

            But the real danger is that Moscow will conclude that it can continue to do what it is doing or even expand it to the point that the West will respond. Thus failure to label what Russia is doing accurately does not lessen the chance of a broader war but in fact increases it by leading Putin to misread Western resolve.