WARSAW: Poland said on Thursday (Sep 11) the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to discuss drone incursions into its airspace which the Polish president described as an attempt by Russia to test Warsaw and NATO’s response.
Poland also banned drone flights along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine, and limited small air traffic there, after shooting down what it said were Russian drones that violated its airspace on Wednesday.
Poland was backed by its NATO allies in shooting down the drones – the first time a member of the military alliance is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russia said it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland, and that it would make no further comment on the incident. A senior NATO commander said it was not yet known whether the drone incursions were intentional.
But the incident has raised questions about NATO’s preparedness against drone attacks, fuelled tensions with Russia and prompted some Western leaders to seek new sanctions against Moscow and question its commitment to peace efforts in Ukraine.
“This Russian provocation, as the generals and our soldiers are well aware, was nothing more than an attempt to test our capabilities, our ability to respond,” Polish President Karol Nawrocki told soldiers on Thursday.
The Polish foreign ministry said the United Nations Security Council would meet at Warsaw’s request, but did not say when.
The UN did not immediately comment, but Slovenia, Denmark, Greece, France and Britain have asked the Security Council to meet on Friday, diplomats said on Wednesday.
Polish F-16 fighter jets, Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS surveillance planes and NATO mid-air refuelling aircraft scrambled in the operation to shoot down drones in Polish airspace overnight on Tuesday to Wednesday, officials said.
The debris of 16 drones had so far been recovered, Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told parliament on Thursday.
He said Poland’s logistical support for Ukraine may have been a motivation for the incursions – most aid for Ukraine transits via Poland.
“This is an attempt to weaken NATO’s and Poland’s willingness to support Ukraine,” he said.
SOME AIR TRAFFIC RESTRICTED
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday it was “the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two,” though he also said he had “no reason to believe we’re on the brink of war.”
Tusk called the incident a “large-scale provocation” and said he had activated Article 4 of NATO’s treaty, under which alliance members can demand consultations with their allies.
