Von der Leyen proposes an EU 'Article 4' for hybrid attacks

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her State of the Union address in Strasbourg to propose an emergency security protocol that any member state could trigger to convene all 27 governments in response to hybrid incidents such as sabotage, arson or drone incursions that fall short of armed attack. She called it Europe's own Article 4, after NATO's consultation clause, and separately backed a new European Security Council bringing in, among others, Britain, Norway, Ukraine and Canada. The proposals target threats that the EU's existing mutual-defense clause, Article 42(7), does not cover.

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