BRUSSELS: Nato on Tuesday warned Russia to stop an "escalatory" pattern of airspace violations along its eastern flank, after the alliance held urgent talks about a jet incursion over Estonia last week. "Russia bears full responsibility for these actions, which are escalatory, risk miscalculation and endanger lives. They must stop," Nato's 32 member states said in a statement.
"Russia should be in no doubt: Nato and allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions." It added that Nato would "continue to respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing" and that the alliance's commitment to its collective defence pact remained "ironclad".
Estonia convened emergency consultations under Article 4 of Nato's founding treaty after armed Russian fighter jets violated its airspace for some 12 minutes on Friday. That incident — which saw Nato scramble jets — came just over a week after the alliance shot down Russian drones over Poland and led Warsaw to demand similar talks.
Nato chief Mark Rutte said alliance forces would decide whether to fire upon Russian aircraft breaching its airspace "based on available intelligence regarding the threat posed by the aircraft." Rutte said that "in Estonia, Nato forces promptly intercepted and escorted the aircraft without escalation, as no immediate threat was assessed". "Our message to the Russians is clear, we will defend every inch of allied territory," he said. In response to the drone intrusion in Poland, Nato announced it was bolstering its eastern defences to help to counter the threat from Moscow.
Besides Poland and Romania, other eastern flank countries including Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland have seen recent violations of their airspace. Rutte said it was "too early to say" if drones over Copenhagen that disrupted flights overnight were linked to Russia. The spike in tensions has spurred fears that the Russia war in Ukraine could be spilling across Nato's border.
In their statement the Nato countries vowed that "allies will not be deterred by these and other irresponsible acts by Russia from their enduring commitments to support Ukraine". Under Nato's Article 4, any member can call emergency discussions when it feels its "territorial integrity, political independence or security" are at risk.
Tuesday's talks were the third time Article 4 has been invoked since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the ninth time it has been triggered in the alliance's 76-year history. Nato's collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence. That article has only been invoked once in the history of Nato, following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Large drones that flew over Copenhagen airport for hours and caused it to shut down constituted the "most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure" to date, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday. Airports in Copenhagen and Oslo reopened early on Tuesday, hours after unidentified drones in their airspace caused dozens of flights to be diverted or cancelled, disrupting travel for thousands of passengers.
"This is part of the development we have recently observed with other drone attacks, airspace violations, and cyberattacks targeting European airports," Frederiksen said in a statement. She referred to similar drone incidents in Poland and Romania and the violation by Russian fighter jets of Estonia's airspace. The governments of Poland, Estonia and Romania have pointed the finger at Moscow, which has brushed off the allegations. Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster DR she could "not rule out" that Russia was behind the drone activity.
Moscow denied involvement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissing her remarks as "unfounded accusations". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced what he called a Russian violation of Denmark's airspace, in a message on X. Danish police meanwhile said they had been unable to identify the drone operator. "The number, size, flight patterns, time over the airport. All this together ... indicates that it is a capable actor. Which capable actor, I do not know," Copenhagen police inspector Jens Jespersen told reporters.
"It was an actor that had the capacity, the will and the tools to make their presence known," he said. Nato said it was "too early to say" whether Russia was responsible, but warned Moscow to stop an "escalatory" pattern of airspace violations along its eastern flank. — AFP
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