Poland is prepared to shoot down any objects that breach its airspace, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday, according to Polskie Radio.
“I want to state this absolutely clearly. We will, without any discussion, make the decision to shoot down objects if they violate our territory and fly over Poland. There is absolutely nothing to debate here,” the prime minister said.
Tusk added that in cases where there is no clear violation of Polish airspace, Warsaw would “think twice before making any decisions that could provoke a very sharp phase of the conflict.” He cited an incident last week, when two Russian fighter jets flew at low altitude over the Polish Petrobaltic platform in the Baltic Sea. 99
“We need to be 100% sure that our allies will see this the same way we do. And if the conflict enters an acute phase, we will not be left alone,” Tusk said.
The incident near the platform occurred on September 19. The following day, September 20, Poland’s armed forces announced that Polish and allied aircraft were scrambled in the morning during a mass Russian strike on Ukraine. Due to the threat of Russian drone attacks in western Ukraine, Poland had already scrambled fighters on September 13. That same day, authorities announced the start of Operation Eastern Sentry to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank, involving forces from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Denmark.
