New bomb threats in Europe reinforce suspicions of hybrid warfare

New bomb threats in Europe reinforce suspicions of a hybrid war. A strategy that combines different forms of attack to destabilize the opponent. This Thursday (12), an alert temporarily halted train traffic in northern France and caused delays in travel between London and Paris. President Emmanuel Macron announced an extraordinary meeting to discuss the matter.

In Italy, more than 1,800 schools received new threats by email. Some were evacuated, others held classes. The government announced a new safety protocol: schools and public buildings should only be evacuated if there are concrete signs of danger. On Wednesday (11), 6,300 schools were threatened.

In northern Italy, a Brazilian couple began receiving notices from other parents. The couple's 4-year-old daughter was in the classroom.

"Then I called more times and nothing. And we started to get more worried. Two hours later, they called, asking us to immediately pick up our daughter from school, and we received an alert. We will have this worry every day", says Marcos Malavasi, the student's father.

Investigators discovered that the first wave of threats were sent from a university email account in Taiwan. The institution confirmed the invasion of a former student's account and opened an investigation. This Thursday (12), the emails came from addresses linked to the Philippines and Pakistan. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani suspects Russian involvement in the attacks. Moscow denies any involvement.

Not even the seat of Italian power escaped the wave of threats. Palazzo Chigi, the seat of government, also received an email with a bomb warning. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called on the opposition to discuss the crisis. Parties accuse the government of spending too much on weapons and too little on defense against cyber attacks.