Increased NATO airspace violations led to the invocation of Article 4. Russia is in danger of seeing their drones to be slaughtered, but some countries fear that this is Putin’s plan
NATO is prepared to respond to new airspace violations with full force, including the slaughter of Russian aircraft, and Kremlin has already been warned by European diplomats, according to. The warning was given at a tense meeting in Moscow by British, French, and German envoys after the foray of three MIG-31 fighters over Estonia last week. After the conversation it was concluded that the violation had been a deliberate maneuver ordered by Russian commanders.
Moscow denied any transgression and ensured that drones did not enter Estonian territory. Regarding another incident, in which drones crossed Poland, he said this was an error. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has ensured that all Russian military flights follow the international rules.
NATO’s eastern borders have registered, throughout September, several unprecedented violations, while Vladimir Putin intensifies attacks on civil infrastructure in Ukraine and US support for Kiev begins to weaken.
The United Kingdom has already stated that it was “ready to rugged our airspace against any foray.” Other allies, including Poland Donald Tusk, appealed to the slaughter of Russian drones. However, Germany’s Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, warned that firing against Moscow aircraft could mean falling into Putin’s “climbing trap”.
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, has taken a position to support the drone slaughter: “Russians should be aware that this can happen if they enter NATO airspace.” The Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, on the other hand, called on to caution, warning not to fall into the Kremlin provocation.
Donald Trump this week asked Ukraine to recover the entire territory occupied by Russia “with the support of the European Union”, defending the role of the US as selling weapons that allies can send to the battlefield.
However, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was coordinating efforts with Paris, London and Warsaw and ensured support for “all necessary measures.” Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with France 24, refused to reveal how Nato will respond to new incursions.
A Russian diplomat, for his part, said in Moscow that violations are a response to Ukrainian attacks on Crimea – operations that, according to Kremlin, would not be possible without NATO support. Moscow considers, therefore, that it is already in direct confrontation with European countries.
NATO has called Article 4, which provides for consultations in case of threat, twice this month, after the incidents in Poland and Estonia. In total, it had only been invoked nine times since 1949. Denmark is studying a similar path, at a time when the country’s airports have been affected by the presence of various drones, with no certainty about Russia’s involvement.
According to Denmark Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, “the intention is to create division and scare us.” Adding that “the threat of hybrid attacks is here to stay.”
The increase of these attacks aligns with the vision of some security guards that a belligerent movement of Moscow would hardly emerge in the form of a conventional attack on the West, but as a hybrid operation with deliberate ambiguity about the origin and motivations of the attacks.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stressed that “Russia is testing our preparation and our commitment to retaliate”, advocating NATO’s solidarity and quick reactions. The Russian ambassador in France, Alexey Meshkov, said that “if the NATO deafs a Russian plane under the pretext of an alleged violation, that will be war.”
The raids also exposed weaknesses in the defenses of the east flank. On September 13, a Russian drone entered Romanian airspace and was followed for 50 minutes by two F-16 fighters. The decision not to slaughter him, for fear of the fall of wreckage, generated strong criticism.
