- Poland set a clear rule: any object that violates its airspace will be shot down, following recent drone incursions.
- Warsaw is engaging allies under NATO consultation procedures and stresses caution in ambiguous cases near the Baltic.
- Earlier reporting noted Poland shooting down Russian drones over its territory with allied support.
- U.S. approved a $4B FMF loan guarantee for Poland, with a potential sale of Javelin missiles to strengthen defense.
- Together, these steps mark a tougher air-defense posture and deeper coordination on NATO’s eastern flank.
Poland will shoot down any object that clearly violates its airspace, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday, drawing a harder line after a string of drone incursions and near-miss encounters over the Baltic Sea. “We will take the decision to shoot down any flying object when it violates our territory and flies over Poland — there is absolutely no discussion about it,” Tusk told reporters in Warsaw.
Tusk’s remarks follow a tense two weeks in which Polish officials say multiple Russian drones crossed the border during overnight attacks on Ukraine. Polish and allied aircraft intercepted several of them; official tallies vary, with at least three downed, according to briefings last week.
The prime minister also underscored that Poland has turned to its NATO partners and will not act in ways that could trigger a wider clash. Warsaw requested consultations under NATO’s Article 4 this month after what officials described as the first shoot-downs on alliance territory since the start of the war in Ukraine — a step that allows members to confer when they judge their security is threatened.
Even as he set a firm red line for clear violations, Tusk urged caution in ambiguous cases. He cited the recent flight of Russian fighter jets near the Petrobaltic drilling platform in the Baltic Sea — close enough to raise alarms but outside Polish territorial waters — as a situation where restraint was warranted. “You really need to think twice before deciding on actions that could trigger a very acute phase of conflict,” he said.
The security picture remains fluid along NATO’s eastern flank. Estonia has alleged separate airspace breaches by Russian military jets, a claim Moscow denies. Allied capitals have officially supported Tallinn while calling for measured responses to avoid escalation.
Polish officials argue that the breaches in early September were a turning point that led to more allied air defenses and surveillance aircraft over Poland. Those precautions have grown in the past few days as NATO adds additional troops and equipment to stop and respond to any repeat events.
Tusk framed Monday’s policy as both clear and collective: Poland will shoot down intruders when the facts are unambiguous, and it will keep working inside the alliance to handle gray-zone events with care. “I also need to be absolutely certain that all allies will treat this in exactly the same way as we do,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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