EU Launches Its Own Intelligence Unit Amid Russia’s Hybrid Warfare

The European Commission has started creating a new intelligence unit amid Russia’s hybrid warfare. It will be subordinated to the head of the European Union.

This was reported by European Pravda, citing the Financial Times.

This should improve the use of information collected by the bloc’s national intelligence services.

The new unit will be formed within the Commission’s Secretariat-General. It plans to hire employees from across the European Union’s intelligence community to collect intelligence for common purposes.

“The intelligence services of the EU member states know a lot. The Commission knows a lot. We need a better way to bring it all together to be effective and useful to our partners. In intelligence, you have to give something to get something,” one of the interlocutors shared.

At the same time, this move is opposed by senior officials of the EU diplomatic service, which oversees the EU Intelligence and Situation Center (Intcen), who fear it will duplicate the unit’s role and threaten its future.

The plan has not been officially communicated to all 27 EU member states, but the institution aims to involve officers seconded from national intelligence services.

“The concept is being developed, and the discussion is ongoing. No specific timeframe has been set,“ the sources said, adding that it would ”draw on existing Commission expertise and … work closely with the relevant services of the European External Action Service.”

Intelligence sharing has long been a sensitive topic for EU member states. States with extensive intelligence capabilities have been cautious about sharing sensitive information with partners. And pro-Russian governments in countries like Hungary have made cooperation even more difficult.

According to the interlocutors, EU governments are expected to resist the European Commission’s moves to create new intelligence powers for Brussels.

They added that there have long been concerns about the effectiveness of Intcen, especially as Europe responds to Russia’s hybrid war.

The European Union is also preparing for the rapid deployment of troops, weapons, ammunition, and the evacuation of the wounded in the event of a potential conflict with Russia.