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Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed concerns on Monday that the devastating crash of a DHL cargo plane near Vilnius International Airport in Lithuania could have been either a catastrophic accident or a deliberate “hybrid incident” involving external factors, sparking a thorough investigation into the cause of the tragic event.
“We must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an unfortunate accident or whether it was another sophisticated hybrid incident, potentially orchestrated by state or non-state actors,” Baerbock told reporters at the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy, drawing parallels with the recent severing of crucial telecom cables in the Baltic Sea, which officials have hinted could have been a case of sabotage.
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“We have recently witnessed a surge in hybrid attacks across Europe, often targeting critical infrastructure, including underwater cables and transportation systems, as well as individual citizens, using unconventional tactics that blur the lines between traditional warfare and covert operations,” she warned.
The term “hybrid” is commonly used to describe attacks that do not use conventional military tactics, such as sabotaging critical infrastructure, launching debilitating cyberattacks, or employing other forms of asymmetric warfare.
Since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries have frequently used the term to describe actions against them that they believe originate from Moscow, as part of a broader pattern of aggressive behavior.
Lithuanian authorities have so far stopped short of linking Monday’s deadly crash, in which one crew member on the DHL cargo jet lost their life, to recent suspected cases of sabotage, instead choosing to focus on gathering evidence and conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
The plane, which had arrived from the German city of Leipzig, crashed approximately one kilometre (0.6 miles) from the Vilnius airport, hitting several buildings as it skidded several hundred metres, causing significant damage and disrupting local services, according to the police and DHL officials.
