The danger to its spread and beyond the country’s borders to the west were underlined by developments, as well as their placements, after violating its airspace by Russian at dawn on Wednesday and their downfall by aircraft.
The sense of severe escalation created by the violation of the Polish airspace, by – according to the latest report – 14 Russian drones (which were launched with hundreds of late Tuesday night, Wednesday morning against Ukraine), and by Ukraine). Poland, other European countries, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Laen.
“Europe is in a battle,” the European Commission President argued
Speaking just a few hours after it was noted, the chairman of the committee in her annual speech made it clear: “Europe is in a battle. A battle for our freedom and our ability to determine our destiny on our own. This must be the moment of Europe’s independence. A moment we can seize if we are united. “
Making a specific report condemned the “dangerous and unprecedented violation of the Polish and European airspace by more than ten Russian drones” and made it clear that: “Europe is completely solidarity with Poland. Europe will defend every square centimeter of its soil. “
According to Europe itself, it must “enhance its defensive effort” and acquire its own “independent strategic means” as: “Putin’s war economy will not stop – even if the war stops. This means that Europe must be ready to take responsibility for its safety. “
Large scale challenge characterized the invasion of Russian drones o Donald Tusk
For his part, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in his statements on the matter. As Tusk said, there were at least 19 violations of the Polish airspace during the night, with some of them marked in the direction of Belarus.
According to official announcements, four airports, including the two serving Warsaw, were closed for traffic during the invasion. The Dutch Prime Minister, Dick Soph, said that F-35 aircraft from his country were involved in the mission of drones. At least three drones were rejected.
Tusk, who convened an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, said, among other things: “We are dealing with a large -scale challenge. We are ready to repel such challenges. The situation is serious and no one doubts that we have to prepare for various scenarios. “
Poland activated Article 4 of NATO – Sikorski: “It was no accident”
As he added, there is no “panic reason” ,. Article 4 has only been cited seven times since the founding of NATO in 1949, with the last time in 2022 shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tusk statements were added by his deputy prime minister and foreign minister Radoslav Sikorski, who said Warsaw “has no doubt” that this was a deliberate attack. As he said: “If it were one or two unmanned aircraft, technical malfunction is a possible scenario, but in this case there were 19 violations overall and that this could be accidental simply cannot be believed.”
NATO’s position on the subject
As for NATO, the Alliance confirmed that it was in close consultation with Poland, as Mark Rutte’s secretary general had direct contact with the country’s leadership. Rutte condemned Russia’s “dangerous behavior”, while stressing that the alliance responded “very effectively”.
A “complete evaluation” is in progress, but whether this violation of the Polish airspace was “deliberate or not, it is absolutely irresponsible and dangerous,” Route told reporters.
As he added: “My message to Putin is clear: end the war in Ukraine, stop violations in our airspace and you know that we are alert and we will defend all NATO territory.”
In the meetings, contacts and meetings that took place all day, the rest of the leaders and ministers agreed that this was a deliberate violation of the Poland’s airspace, which aimed to escalate, but also to test the reaction of both Poland and Poland.
Support Poland by European forces
Indicative are the statements by British Defense Minister John Chili, who, after meeting with his E5 team (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Poland), asked the British Armed Forces to consider “options for his reinforcement”.
Hilly said: “Today, as five nations, we say to President Putin: Your aggression serves only to strengthen unity among NATO nations. Your aggression only serves to strengthen our determination to stand on the side of Ukraine. “
Russia’s response
References to Russian aggression and escalation of the war on the part of Russia, as well as evidence of reports of the event itself, forced Moscow to answer.
According to the announcements on the part of both the Ministry of Defense and Russia’s foreign ministry, there was no plan to attack specific targets on the territory of Poland.
As for the drones used to attack Ukraine, some of which are said to cross the border with Poland, the Russian side argued that their range did not exceed 700 kilometers.
These placements were answered by the Polish side, but also by others, with the general direction of statements being rejected in Russia’s efforts to either underestimate the event or not to take responsibility for the breach.
What was the US attitude
Of particular interest, however, was the US’s attitude to the incident as cohesion was missing. Specifically, the US ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitacker reiterated US support for Warsaw amid concerns in Europe about how the Trump government could react to a Russian attack on a NATO Member State. “We stand on the side of our allies in NATO against these airspace violations and we will defend every centimeter of NATO’s soil,” Whitaker wrote in a post on X.
At the same time a statement from a White House official said, President Trump is watching developments in Poland and will have a telephone conversation with his Polish counterpart and his political ally, Carol Navrotsky. Despite this announcement that had a relatively official tone, the US president decided to comment shortly afterwards, developments in Poland with a post on Truth Social in which he mentioned something that gave birth to more questions than gave a stigma, as he wrote: “What happened to Russia? Let’s go! “
European air defense to put an end to Russian aggression wants Zelenski
Finally, the Ukrainian leadership also made the issue of the invasion of Russian drones into the airspace of Poland Strong reaction, proceeds to a new level of escalation. Today he made another step of escalation. It was not just a shahad (the type of drone used by Russia primarily), which could be described as an accident, but at least eight offensive unmanned aircraft targeted Poland. “
Zelenski later made it clear that European countries need to work for a “common air defense system and create an effective air shield over Europe”. As he added, remaining in the same spirit and echoing the positions of Ursula von der Laien: “We have to work for a common air defense system and create an effective airflow over Europe. Ukraine has long suggested it and we have specific solutions. We must respond together to all current challenges and be ready for possible threats to all Europeans in the future. Similarly, we need to significantly increase joint funding for the production of drones. They have already proven their effectiveness. “
