European political leaders are coalescing around the view that the incursion of Russian drones into NATO airspace over Poland was deliberate act, not an accident of war, as yet another Russian drone overflies the alliance’s territory.
A Russian drone entered Romanian airspace on Saturday night, the first such incursion since the mass arrival of potentially dozens of drones into Polish airspace last week. Both Romania and Poland are NATO member states.
Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the drone, the government said, noting that German fighters providing air cover to eastern Europe were already airborne. Romanian Foreign Minister Toiu Oana said on Saturday night: “Romanian Air Force intercepted a Russian drone violating our national airspace near the Danube. Two F-16s from the 86th Air Base tracked it until it left our airspace without causing any damage or casualties, 50 minutes later”.
She emphasised that Romanian citizens “were never in danger” but “such actions by Russia are unacceptable and reckless”, saying the country condemns Moscow for its actions.
The overflight was condemned by leaders of other European nations, who say they have now come to the conclusion that the arrival of 19 or more Russian drones into Poland last week, three of which had to be shot down because they were on course for a key NATO airbase, was deliberate. The Polish government was first to say it had evidence of Russian intention last week, and were joined by the Swedish Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday who said: “We know that it was Russian drones, we know that it was intentional… This is a serious escalation on Russia’s part. Probably to test NATO’s capabilities”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia, which borders Poland but not Romania, Ukraine, or Russia, also hit these themes. He said over the weekend in comments amplified by Ukrainian state media: “Russia has been testing our patience for a long time… Russia continues to provoke. Last night, it was Romania. I do not believe in Russian “mistakes.” As NATO allies, we remain vigilant. Russia must pay a concrete price for its provocations against NATO. That is why Czechia supports further sanctions.”
Northern Baltic state Estonia, which has a major land border with Russia, also spoke out. Their Prime Minister Kristen Michal called Russia an “acute threat to Europe” and to NATO, and said that while the Russia-facing country may have seemed “a little bit paranoid” in the past talking about the Moscow threat, they argued “right now, everything we in the Baltics or Poland or the Nordics have been talking about has come to life”.
Speaking to The Times of London over the weekend, the Estonian leader warned of unintended consequences of a less-than-perfect peace, stating Russia’s huge armed forces suddenly free of an active conflict would become a destabilising factor. He said they could form new Wagner-like paramilitaries and might in future be found “all around the planet”.
The PM told the paper: “Russia has more men under arms than before the war. They are getting higher salaries, they have fighting capabilities. Some of them are criminals and they have to be treated as heroes in Russia. They won’t go back into the regular army… This is not a question only of the eastern border [of NATO]. This is the question of what will happen all over the planet when the war ends”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine itself has continued to put more information about the Russian air incursion last week. Their foreign minister Radosław ‘Radek’ Sikorski, who led the pack in claiming a deliberate mission by Russia into Poland added more detail in conversation with The Guardian, that paper states, reporting he confirmed the downed drones “were all duds”.
The fact the one-way attack drones were all unarmed suggested to him, he said, that “Russia tried to test us without starting a war”. On it being definitely deliberate, he restated remarks made last week when he told the paper: “You can believe that one or two veer off target, but 19 mistakes in one night, over seven hours, sorry, I don’t believe it”.
Poland would be taking lessons from Ukraine in how to down Russian drones, he said, given their extensive experience. This would see Ukrainian soldiers travel to Poland to teach his army, he said, rather than Polish troops go to the front line.
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