NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the start of operation «Eastern Sentry» to strengthen the defense of Europe's eastern flank after Russian drones entered Polish airspace, reported Reuters.
Warsaw considers the drone incursions as an attempt by Russia to test Poland and NATO's ability to respond to such actions. «This is reckless and unacceptable. We cannot allow Russian drones to invade allied airspace», said Rutte.
Allies, including Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, have already confirmed their participation in the mission, and other countries intend to join it, Rutte said, adding that NATO is still assessing the possible motives for the incursion.
The Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO's Allied Command Operations, Alexei Grinkevich, a US Air Force general, stated that the alliance will defend every inch of its territory. He also stated that operation «Eastern Sentry» was designed as a flexible operation to strengthen defense across the entire eastern flank of NATO, which stretches from the Baltic states in the north to Romania and Bulgaria in the south.
Earlier on Friday, Poland refuted Donald Trump's suggestion that the incursions might have been a mistake, which is a rare contradiction with the US President from one of Washington's closest European allies.
On September 11, Poland asked allies to provide additional air defense systems and drone countermeasures technologies for better protection against Russian incursions.