NATO is considering shooting down Russian missiles approaching member states’ borders, a Polish official says

Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna told RMF 24 radio station on Tuesday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is looking at various options, including shooting down Russian missiles when they are close to NATO’s borders.

The Polish official signaled that Warsaw and NATO in general are increasingly concerned about Russian attacks targeting Ukraine and getting closer to the borders of the North Atlantic Alliance.

The statements come after a Russian missile fired at a target in western Ukraine on Sunday passed through Polish airspace.

Poland’s deputy foreign minister, Andrzej Szejna, said that “within NATO, various concepts are being analyzed, including the option that these missiles be shot down when they are very close to NATO’s border.”

“But this should happen with the agreement of the Ukrainian side and taking into account the international consequences – because NATO missiles would hit Russian missiles outside the territory of the Treaty,” Szejna added.

“The aggressor cannot impose certain rules on us every time. He must get used to the fact that the NATO camp, the camp of democratic countries, the EU will start to set a certain tone when it comes to solving the conflict in Ukraine,” Szejna emphasized.

39 seconds in Polish airspace

The Polish military announced that Russia violated Poland’s airspace on Sunday morning with a cruise missile launched at targets in western Ukraine.

For about 39 seconds, “one of the cruise missiles launched during the night by the aviation (…) of the Russian Federation violated the Polish airspace,” declared the operational command of the Polish armed forces.

“The object entered the Polish airspace near the village of Oserdow (east) and remained there for 39 seconds,” the quoted source said, emphasizing that the missile was observed by military radars throughout the flight.

Following this incident, “all the necessary procedures were activated to ensure the security of the Polish airspace”, the operational command of the armed forces also said in its press release.

On Tuesday, Szejna said it was “a deliberate act”.

“The Russian Federation did not want to provoke anything, they knew that if the missile moved further into Poland, it would have been shot down. There would have been a counterattack. “(The violation of Polish airspace) was planned to check the defense strength and vigilance of the Polish armed forces,” he said.

Another such incident took place last December when a Russian missile entered Polish airspace before leaving a few minutes later in the direction of Ukraine.

Also, remains of Russian drones were found in Romania, in Tulcea county, after the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian ports on the Danube.

The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Gheorghiţă Vlad, explained in February, at Free Europe, that the military does not have the necessary legislation to shoot down attack drones that would eventually enter Romania’s airspace.

“Diplomatic defection”

Warsaw summoned the Russian ambassador on Monday morning to ask for an explanation, but he refused to appear.

“We question whether the ambassador is following the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow and whether he is able to properly represent the interests of the Russian Federation in Warsaw,” Polish foreign ministry spokesman Paweł Wroński was quoted as saying by the newspaper on Monday afternoon. Rzeczpospolita

On Tuesday, Poland’s deputy foreign minister pointed out that the Russian ambassador was guilty of “diplomatic desertion”.

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