The Polish prime minister is responding to the growing number of Russian incursions into NATO airspace.
Good! No more putzing around with Putin.
Poland will shoot down enemy aircraft if they violate its territory, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday. “I want to be very clear. We will make a decision to shoot down flying objects without discussion when they violate our territory and fly over Poland. There is no room for debate here,” Tusk told a press conference. Tusk’s made his comments in the wake of a series of incidents in which Russian drones or warplanes entered the airspace of Poland, Romania and, last Friday, Estonia, when three Russian MiG-31 jets remained in the NATO member state’s airspace for nearly 12 minutes before the alliance scrambled jets in response. The Polish leader added he wants to have "100 percent certainty" that Poland's NATO allies will view any incursion in the same way, so that "if the conflict enters a very acute phase, we will not be alone." The incidents heightened security concerns along NATO’s eastern flank, triggering calls for increased vigilance against Russian provocations.
To be clear, Poland doesn't need NATO's permission to shoot down Russian intruders. Self-defense is the right of any country; as of Tuesday, Ukraine itself has destroyed 424 Russian planes and 345 Russian helicopters since the full-scale invasion began.
The problem for NATO as a whole is that its own organizational military assets are relatively limited. As RFE/RL reports...
What makes it even more complicated is that NATO as an organization has few assets under its own command. Instead, most allies provide their national capabilities to SACEUR but maintain their own national caveats. A hypothetical example: If Italian planes are asked to shoot down drones over Poland as part the alliance's new Eastern Sentry operation, someone in Rome must give the green light. Depending on the agreement, this could be a military chief, defense minister, or even prime minister. In other instances, countries allow SACEUR or his commanders to make the call.
So if Poland needs immediate backup, the government mostly has to contact countries like Germany, Sweden, and Italy individually.
Poland certainly has the resources to shoot down trespassing Russians. In NATO, Poland spends the highest percentage of GDP on defense. But if Russia tries to provoke a larger conflict, Poland will likely require additional help from other NATO powers. A more unified NATO command is needed.
