Italy investigates drone flyovers of EU facility, spying suspected

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible espionage and terrorism after a drone flew several times over an EU research centre in northwestern Italy, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

The European Joint Research Centre (JRC) in the town of Ispra, on Lake Maggiore, reported five flyovers in March by a commercial drone, which was believed to be of Russian manufacture judging from the images, the sources said.

Flights over the JRC, which opened in 1960 as a nuclear research site, are not allowed.

As a result, the anti-terrorism department of the Milan public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into military or political espionage for terrorist purposes, the source added.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto wrote on X that allegations of possible military or industrial espionage were very serious and fitted a pattern he had previously flagged.

"A hybrid war is underway. It is as dangerous as it is hidden, constant and suffocating ... involving a mix of targeted cyberattacks .. (including the) theft of military and industrial technologies and patents, along with many other hostile acts, perpetrated by multiple state and non-state actors," he said.

He did not name any country. NATO powers have accused Russia of launching hybrid attacks on the West using hacking, sabotage, espionage and other tactics. Russia has denied such accusations, saying the West is stoking anti-Russian feeling.

The JRC website says the Ispra centre is the European Commission's third largest research campus after those in Brussels and Luxembourg, dealing with numerous issues, including nuclear security, space, sustainable resources, migration and transport.

"The Commission is committed to protecting its information, staff and networks in the face of any possible security threat," an EU Commission spokesperson said in a text message to Reuters.

The spokesperson added that in relation to this specific case "we have not observed any violation by drones of the no-fly zone above the Commission Ispra site, nor are we aware of any related specific security threat".

However, the two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the Ispra centre itself had reported the violations of its airspace to the authorities.

(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, additional reporting Giulia Segreti, editing by Crispian Balmer, Ros Russell and Andrew Heavens)