France and Germany moved to bolster defence of Polish airspace Thursday as the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss Warsaw’s accusation that Moscow launched a drone raid on its territory.
Poland branded the incident, which prompted Polish and NATO forces to shoot down several drones overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, a deliberate “unprecedented” attack on the country, NATO and the European Union.
Moscow denied targeting the country and said there was no evidence the drones were Russian. The drones intruded as Russia unleashed a barrage of strikes across Ukraine as part of an ongoing offensive there following its 2022 invasion.
US President Donald Trump, who has been trying unsuccessfully to broker a halt to the war in Ukraine, told reporters on Thursday that the alleged incursion may have happened by “mistake”.
But Polish President Karol Nawrocki warned Thursday during a visit to an airbase in western Poland that the incident was “an attempt to test the mechanism of action within NATO and our readiness to respond”.
Germany said it would “extend and expand” its participation in NATO’s Air Policing programme, to provide more cover to Polish airspace.
Its defence ministry said it would double the number of Eurofighter jets deployed to four and extend their mission by three months to the end of the year.
And French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a post on X that France would “deploy three Rafale fighter jets to contribute to the protection of Polish airspace and of NATO’s Eastern Flank together with our Allies.”
The UN Security Council’s South Korean presidency announced Thursday it would hold an emergency meeting to discuss Warsaw’s claim of a “violation of Polish airspace by Russia”.
It will take place on Friday at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT).
– Border security boosted –
Stray Russian drones and missiles have entered the airspace of NATO members including Poland several times since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Polish officials said on this occasion drones violated its airspace 19 times. There were no casualties and the damage was limited — a house and a car were destroyed.
Poland’s National Security Council met Thursday and the defence minister was expected to brief parliament on the latest findings.
Poland boosted its security Thursday, closing air traffic along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine to civilian flights up to an altitude of three kilometres (1.9 miles) until December 9.
The PAZP air traffic control agency announced that drones would also be banned.
The country had already announced ramped-up measures on the Belarus border to cope with military drills the country is carrying out with its ally Russia between September 12 and 16.
The few open border crossings with Belarus were to be closed from Friday due to the Zapad (“West”) drills.
Reacting to the closure, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement urged Poland “to consider the consequences of such destructive steps and to review its decision as soon as possible”.
The border closure was to “justify a policy of further escalating tensions in the centre of Europe”, she added.
– ‘Reckless’: NATO –
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Wednesday that the drone raid marked an unprecedented escalation of tension with Russia.
Tusk called a NATO meeting on Wednesday, invoking Article 4 under which a member can convene urgent talks when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” are at risk — only the eighth time the measure has been used.
A cornerstone of NATO is the principle that an attack on any member is deemed an attack on all.
NATO chief Mark Rutte denounced Moscow’s “reckless behaviour” while hailing his organisation’s response. The alliance’s air defences had done their job, he told journalists.
The European Union and Ukraine condemned the incident on Wednesday, and several European countries followed on Thursday.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news briefing China “hopes that all parties concerned will properly resolve their disputes through dialogue and consultation”.
China has never denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Poland is a major supporter of Ukraine and hosts more than one million Ukrainian refugees. It is also a key transit point for Western humanitarian and military aid to the country.
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