Niall O'Connor Reporting from Druids Glen, Wicklow.

A RUSSIAN ATTACK team used Italian tourism visas to get into Europe to bomb a German airport prompting EU foreign ministers to call for bans on travel people with connections to Russia. 

Reports in the German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung have said that the two suspects are a Russian man holding a Latvian passport and a Belarusian man holding a Russian passport.

The suspect with Belarusian nationality was already suspected to have launched similar incidents in Baltic countries.

German law enforcement traced their movements and discovered that they used a tourism visa issued by Italian officials in Minsk at the end of April.

A day after Germany accused Russia of targeting Leipzig with explosive drones, EU foreign ministers meeting in Wicklow have been eager to attack Vladimir Putin’s regime. 

The Leipzig attack on 4 August saw German police forced to use a robot to defuse a device near a Ukrainian cargo plane. Another drone was reportedly found weeks later near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.

The German government announced yesterday that its investigations identified it as a Russian attack. As a response, Berlin is to close Russia’s consulate in the former capital Bonn later this month, and cancel the lease for the Russian House, a cultural centre in the capital city.

At a press conference in Wicklow today EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said that foreign ministers are working on limiting Russian connected people to travel in the European Union. They are also set to introduce bans on people who have fought for Russia in Ukraine. 

“There was broad support to move with an EU visa entry ban for Russian ex-combatants and tougher visa restrictions for Russian tourists.

“If it is true it shows very clearly that visas are a tool of these people who are meaning harm to the EU. Today many raised this, that we really need to curb the visas.

“It’s not okay that, during this war, Russians are entering and enjoying the hospitality of European countries. It should not work this way. Many member states have flagged [it] that actually these kinds of tourist visas are used for sabotage acts,” she said.

During the press conference Helen McEntee, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, said that Ireland would support any such ban.

The latest development this afternoon is that Russia has summoned German representatives in Moscow to explain ‘anti-Russian attacks’.

Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, addresses journalists in Wicklow today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

‘No longer in regular peacetime’

Earlier in Wicklow the Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said today that Europe is no longer “in normal peacetime”.

As the foreign ministers from across Europe arrived this morning and spoke to reporters, it was clear that something had shifted in terms of approach overnight. 

During the defence ministers’ meeting on Tuesday, it was alleged that Estonia, Romania, Poland and areas bordering Ukraine and Russia had suffered not just sabotage incidents but also ground incursions and drone and missile flights into their territory. 

This morning one of the most vocal and direct was Polish Foreign Minister, who spoke in direct terms and said the attack on Germany was a case of State terrorism. He also declared as war crimes the bombing of civilian infrastructure and the deaths of non-combatants in air raids by Moscow.

“Our ally Germany has been attacked in what appears to be a series of actions of state terrorism,” he said.

“One for all, all for one, Poland along with other allies will do what it takes to sustain every ally who gets attacked. We don’t seek conflict with Russia, but Russia seems to be at hybrid war with us, and we need to show Putin that we will not be intimidated.”

Poland itself has suffered hybrid attacks on rail lines and warehouses as well as stray missiles and drone incursions. 

He said that there was a need for sanctions but explained that the solution was to expel all Russian diplomats suspected of being spies. He has called for stronger measures to prevent Russians travelling in Europe. 

‘Close embassies’

He believes Moscow’s embassies and consulates in cities across the Bloc should be closed. 

“We should make it more difficult for Russian diplomats and spies to operate around Europe,” he said. 

Sikorski said that he has shut down Moscow’s consulates in Poland. He also said Russian citizens must use biometric passports. He called for measures that would mean that diplomats from the Putin regime would not be able to leave the countries to which they are accredited.

“Many of whom are serving agents, and just gearing up for a time of crisis,” he added. 

Sikorski now believes that assassination squads and sabotage team activities have got close to a state of war. 

“We are no longer in regular peacetime. You know, hybrid war is not just a nuisance on the internet. Hybrid war means assassination squads.

“It means arsons. It means blowing up moving trains like in Poland. It means breaches of airspace with drones and cruise missiles. We need to convince Putin that such actions are not for free. I am looking forward to the discussion here to strategise as to what to do about it,” he added.