Southern Europe in September 2026: the most important developments in security
Southern Europe's security news in September 2026 combined military moves in the Red Sea region with incidents tied to migration and crime.
Italy said on September 17 and 18 that it was sending navy vessels to the Bab el-Mandeb strait to protect merchant ships from Houthi attacks. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Italy would guarantee the transit of its ships and would not wait for slower EU coordination, and he reported that an Italian Eurofighter had been hit in an attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia. Earlier, Crosetto said an Italian NATO jet had shot down a drone over Lithuania that probably came from Russia. Egypt and Greece began the joint exercise Medusa 15 on September 15 with France, Italy and Cyprus, and Greece, Cyprus and Egypt held a separate readiness test. A Greek F-4 crashed during an air show near Athens on September 5, killing both pilots.
The Ceuta migrant surge had security consequences. Two Spanish soldiers were evacuated to Madrid on September 17 with serious injuries after being attacked by migrants, and Spain was investigating claims that soldiers tortured migrants there. Spain and Italy extended border checks on each other's travellers, with Madrid keeping checks on arrivals from Italy until October 8.
In Madrid a municipal police officer shot and killed a Senegalese man on September 17 who was holding two elderly people hostage while shouting "Allah is great." An 85-year-old man was arrested on September 19 for killing his son's ex-wife. In Italy, a pupil pepper-sprayed and stabbed a teacher in Rome, authorities said a cell had funnelled 18 million euros to Hamas through a fake charity, and police found more than 3.6 million dollars hidden in walls in an operation against organised crime. A network spying on accounts of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella was reported to be widening. On September 26 an explosion destroyed a building in Athens, killing six people.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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