Hybrid warfare and the protection of the EU’s territorial integrity and critical security and defence infrastructure

Wording as published by the EP, in English.

1. Amendment 6Rejected

   Recital F a (new)

   Tabled by Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Gerolf Annemans, Barbara Bonte +78 · MEPs

   Added: Fa. whereas hybrid threats against the EU are not limited to its eastern flank, but also directly affect its southern flank, including the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Sahel and the external borders of southern Member States; whereas the security of the EU’s southern flank is inseparable from the territorial integrity, sovereignty and national security of the Member States concerned;

2. Amendment 7Rejected

   Paragraph 35

   Tabled by Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Gerolf Annemans, Barbara Bonte +78 · MEPs

   … the space domain into the EU’s broader framework for countering hybrid threats; Added: points out that the effective protection of the EU’s external borders is also an essential element for safeguarding the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Member States against hybrid threats, including those involving the instrumentalisation of illegal immigration;

3. Amendment 8Rejected

   Paragraph 56

   Tabled by Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Gerolf Annemans, Barbara Bonte +78 · MEPs

   … is required, which depends on common frameworks, methodologies, taxonomies and operational standards; Added: considers that any common definition of hybrid warfare should cover sabotage, related activities and the instrumentalisation of illegal immigration flows by third countries or hostile actors, in accordance with precedents already recognised by the EU institutions in relation to hybrid attacks against the EU’s external borders; highlights the need to combine diplomatic, legal, economic and restrictive measures to …

4. Amendment 9Rejected

   Paragraph 64

   Tabled by Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Gerolf Annemans, Barbara Bonte +78 · MEPs

   … order to destabilise a Member State or put pressure on the EU; Removed: notes the specific Added: considers the new provisions on the instrumentalisation of migration recently included in Removed: key pieces of EU legislation; Added: EU legislation to be manifestly insufficient; calls for their urgent review in order to ensure that Member States facing hybrid attacks involving the instrumentalisation of illegal immigration are able to ensure the immediate and effective return of those instrumentalised persons; notes the Commission’s announced revision of the mandate for Frontex; underlines that … required, which would also help strengthen the EU’s response to hybrid threats; Added: calls on the Member States to strengthen the effective control of their external borders and cooperation between police, intelligence, customs and border guard services, and to reinforce their operational capacity to detect, prevent and respond to coordinated actions aimed at provoking or exploiting illegal immigration crises as part of hybrid operations;

5. Amendment 10Rejected

   Paragraph 64 a (new)

   Tabled by Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Gerolf Annemans, Barbara Bonte +70 · MEPs

   Added: 64a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to suspend EU funding, financial assistance and preferential financing to any third country or organisation whose administration deliberately encourages, facilitates, directs or instrumentalises illegal immigration flows as part of a hybrid attack against a Member State; considers that, in the light of the events of 30 and 31 July 2026 in the Spanish city of Ceuta, the Commission should urgently review all EU funding provided to Morocco for migration management and border control;

6. Amendment 11Rejected

   Paragraph 64 b (new)

   Tabled by Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Gerolf Annemans, Barbara Bonte +77 · MEPs

   Added: 64b. Expresses its utmost concern at the events of 30 and 31 July 2026 in Ceuta, a Spanish city forming part of the EU’s external border; notes with grave concern the findings of a report by the intelligence unit of the Spanish National Police responsible for immigration and border matters, submitted to the competent judicial authority, according to which the mass breach of the Spanish and EU external border was not a spontaneous migratory event but a planned operation, carried out under the pretence of a migration crisis; stresses the need to recognise the deliberate instrumentalisation of illegal immigration by non-EU state actors for the purpose of overwhelming a Member State’s border control capacity as a particularly serious form of hybrid operation against its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity; calls on the Commission, the Council and the High Representative to assess without delay the findings of the Spanish authorities and, should they be confirmed, to adopt appropriate diplomatic, financial and restrictive measures against those responsible;

7. Amendment 12Rejected

   Paragraph 64 c (new)

   Tabled by Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Gerolf Annemans, Barbara Bonte +78 · MEPs

   Added: 64c. Condemns the activities of non-governmental organisations and other entities that knowingly facilitate, encourage or assist illegal immigration towards the external borders of Member States, particularly where such activities contribute to, support or are exploited as part of hybrid operations aimed at destabilising a Member State; considers it unacceptable that organisations engaging in such activities should benefit from public funding; calls on the Commission to immediately suspend EU funding to any organisation or entity found to have knowingly facilitated or participated in such activities, to recover funds already granted where legally possible and to ensure that such organisations are excluded from future EU funding;