Throughout 2025, Russia (or potentially another actor) continues conducting systematic campaigns across European civilian infrastructure that reveal fundamental flaws in how we approach crisis management.
In September alone, the scope was staggering: 19-23 drones violated Polish airspace, triggering NATO's first direct engagement over member territory. GPS jamming affected 123,000 flights across the Baltic region. Copenhagen and Oslo airports shut down for hours due to coordinated drone activity. Russian fighter jets repeatedly crossed Estonian airspace. Shadow fleet tankers damaged undersea cables while Russian naval vessels provided escort for the first time.
What makes these incidents significant isn't their individual impact but the way they're orchestrated. Each event requires a response from civilian authorities, from aviation control, maritime surveillance, border security, to cybersecurity teams. All while preventing the recovery periods, or lulls in activity (or "seasons") our emergency management systems depend on. This isn't crisis management as we know it, it's something even more concerning and directly targeting the way we govern during a crisis…and with that the role of emergency management overall.