While the world watched Venezuela, a European capital went dark

While last Saturday, January 3, the world's attention was fixed on Venezuela, another event took place in Europe.

In Berlin (Germany), an arson attack damaged high-voltage power cables triggering a massive blackout across several districts in the southwest of the city.

Tens of thousands of residents have spent several days without power, in the capital of Europe's largest economy.

Full restoration was achieved yesterday, January 7, around 1PM. It has taken 4 days, not hours, DAYS.

It became the longest blackout in post-war Berlin.

This article is about why, while the world watches spectacular crises elsewhere, Europe is absorbing pressure quietly, locally, and without naming it.

Using the Berlin blackout as a point of entry, I will examine how Europe processes disruption below the threshold of political declaration, and why this mode of absorption may itself be the strategic vulnerability of the moment.

TL;DR

1) What happened in Berlin
2) Who claimed the attack
3) What actually broke and what that reveals
4) A growing number of incidents in Europe
5) Incidents as structural signals
6) The public-private fracture in Europe
7) The catalytic effect of American uncertainty
8) What this means for decision-makers
9) What to watch next (indicators)
Conclusion

Before we start... what I am watching closely this week:

• Iran protests escalation - nationwide unrest and regime crackdown
• Venezuela - ongoing political and security developments
• European infrastructure stress - blackouts, air traffic control failure, undersea cables damages
• Arctic & Greenland - intensifying strategic competition (US claims, Russia bypass sanctions via icebreaker)
• North Korea - new hypersonic missile tests
• Russia-Ukraine War - ongoing negotiation and pressures
• International institutions erosion and transatlantic distance

Back to Berlin: what happened, the blackout

In the early hours of January 3, 2026, an arson attack targeted high-voltage power cables near the Lichterfelde gas-fired power plant in southwest Berlin.

The fire damaged cables running across a bridge over the Teltow Canal, cutting electricity to large parts of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Nikolassee, and Wannsee (districts that are NOT marginal, but residential, affluent, and institutionally dense).

Within minutes, power was lost, heating systems shut down, mobile networks degraded.

Temperatures dropped to -9°C, snow covered the city, and tens of thousands of people were suddenly without electricity or heat in an European capital.

By the end of the first day, between 45,000 and 50,000 households and more than 2,200 businesses were affected. Elderly residents were evacuated from some facilities. Emergency shelters and warming centers were opened.

No national emergency mechanism was activated, the incident was treated as a local technical failure. But it was not.

Who claimed the attack

The left-wing group calling itself Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) described the attack as an "act of self-defense". Their statement, read and judged credible by German authorities, Berlin police, and media outlets like the Guardian and BBC, framed the arson attack as a response to:

• fossil fuel infrastructure,
• energy consumption by AI data centers,
• capitalism, surveillance, and "imperial systems".

The choice of target was explicit. It aimed to "cut the juice to the ruling class".

There is, at this stage, no confirmed link to foreign actors.

The group has a known history of infrastructure sabotage, including a 2024 attack on a Tesla facility and previous disruptions in Berlin in September 2025.

In the Grey Zone, a claim of responsibility is an attempt to control interpretation (and narratives).

What actually broke and what that reveals

The blackout exposed a structural weakness: limited redundancy at specific nodes in an otherwise modern grid.

Repair required physical cable replacement, performed outdoors, in freezing conditions. What was initially expected to last hours stretched into days...

This IS the critical signal.

A modern European capital was pushed into several days degraded mode by a relatively... simple physical attack on a single infrastructure component.

The issue is time.

The operational response was rapid but fragmented.

Technical repairs were handled by the grid operator, which focused on restoration timelines.

At the municipal level, emergency shelters were opened, temporary accommodation was funded, and local services coordinated support for affected residents.

Hospitals and care facilities shifted to backup generators to maintain continuity of care.

In parallel, federal prosecutors framed the incident as a "terrorism" case, while Berlin's mayor publicly condemned the attack as life-endangering and called for stronger infrastructure protection.

At the federal level, however, the executive remained... publicly silent.

Each institution acted within its own frame. No single actor assumed ownership of the event as a strategic incident.

This incident is not primarily about anarchism, ideology, or extremism.

It is about how little effort is required to impose sustained degradation on civilian life, and how accustomed European systems have become to managing that degradation without escalation.

The attack seeked friction: it imposed cost, delay, fear, and cognitive load, without triggering the mechanisms designed for conflict.

This is not an isolated incident in Europe... a growing number of incidents are treated the same way as Berlin.

I'm talking about the Berlin blackout to make a point. It's not a spectacular event, but it has become... typical.

Now let's zoom out.