The EU Is Discussing The Possibility Of Designating Russia's GRU As A Terrorist Organization
- 28.10.2026, 21:11
The incident was triggered by a series of hybrid attacks against EU member states.
The European Union is considering adding Russia’s military intelligence agency—the GRU—to its list of terrorist organizations. This is stated in the editor’s review Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on European affairs by Rikard Jozwiak, published on October 27.
According to the publication, the discussion is in its early stages. The impetus for this was a series of hybrid attacks against EU member states, many of which are directly or indirectly linked to the GRU. European diplomats and lawyers are determining whether there are legal grounds for such a decision and whether it will receive sufficient political support.
As Radio Free Europe explains, adding an organization to the EU’s terrorist list must be based on a preliminary court ruling in one of the member states or in a trusted third country. However, to date, GRU officers in European countries have been charged primarily with espionage, attempted murder, or the use of chemical weapons, but not with terrorism.
Potential legal grounds may be linked to cases in Lithuania. One of these involves incendiary devices that were supposed to be loaded onto cargo planes bound for the U.S. and Canada in 2024 but caught fire in warehouses in Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom. According to the publication, in 2025, Lithuanian prosecutors charged 15 individuals with terrorism. However, these were operatives recruited by the GRU, not career intelligence officers, so lawyers must assess whether this connection is sufficient.
Another case involves six foreigners accused of planning to set fire to a facility in Šiauliai, Lithuania, that supplies military products and supports Ukraine. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, their alleged ties to the GRU could also be considered grounds for adding the Russian intelligence service to the terrorist list.
A unanimous vote by all 27 EU member states is required to make this decision. Some officials believe that existing sanctions against the GRU are sufficient, while proponents of a tougher approach emphasize that the designation as a terrorist organization would apply to the entire structure, particularly to officers who are not yet subject to individual sanctions.
According to the publication, such a move could also facilitate the prosecution of local networks of operatives carrying out hybrid attacks on behalf of the GRU and strengthen cooperation among law enforcement agencies in EU countries.