Europe must develop a deterrence akin to the Cold War doctrine of mutually assured destruction to counter AI-powered warfare, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski has said, calling the technology a "force multiplier" that demands a sweeping rethink of the continent's common security.

Gawkowski, who oversees Poland's Ministry for Digital Affairs, told journalists in a conversation attended by Euronews that he expects the number of cyberattacks in Poland to rise tenfold in 2027 as frontier large language models become more effective, sophisticated and widely available. "The frequency of such incidents will only increase. This is not merely a matter for cybercriminals, who are a threat that we are generally well equipped to handle. It's about adversaries. It's about states. That is the biggest problem," he said.

"Let's call a spade a spade: this is a digital war in Europe. Some countries are on the front line, like Poland, while others are not yet on that front, but their time will come too." During the Cold War, the threat of mutual annihilation stopped the United States and the Soviet Union from fighting directly; Gawkowski argued AI systems hacking a country's critical infrastructure could now plunge it into complete paralysis.

He pointed to cyberattacks this week targeting dozens of supermarkets across Europe as only a "prelude" to the havoc yet to come. "We must remain acutely aware of state-level adversaries, such as Russia, Belarus, and others. We must also communicate clearly: if you attack us, we will strike back," he said.

Gawkowski repeatedly challenged the description of cyberattacks as "hybrid warfare" and insisted they should be treated as a modern act of war. "Digital bombs are falling on power plants, striking supermarkets and hitting hospitals in Poland, causing them to cease operations," he said. He urged European countries to adapt their national strategies and security resources. NATO last revised its AI strategy in 2024. Poland spends about 4.8 percent of its GDP on defence.