Spanish
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated this Wednesday that Russian drones deliberately violated Polish airspace early this morning.
"There is absolutely no reason to assume that this is a change of course, an error or something similar, and it is evident that these drones have been deliberately launched on this course. To fly to Ukraine, they would not have had to take this course," he stated during a question-and-answer session with the government in the German Parliament.
The social democratic politician added that, according to Poland's statements, these drones "were armed", so, he warned, "something could have happened at any moment".
He recalled that, according to information from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, it was 19 Shahed drones or of similar design, which were apparently launched from Belarusian territory.
At the same time, he expressed his support for Poland's decision to invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which provides that the allies will consult when, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.
"We support this measure because we believe it is the right thing to do. Signals must be sent in this regard," he said.
"What this teaches us is what we have been regularly commenting on for at least two years, that we are facing a constant threat from the provocations of the Russian armed forces in the Baltic airspace, in the Baltic Sea, in the water, under the sea, but also in Central Europe, by hybrid attacks or precisely through flights of this type. We are preparing for it," he added.
Furthermore, it was shown in accordance with the statement that Russia is testing the reaction capacity of the allies and Europe, which is why he reiterated the need to "not waste time" to increase Germany's defensive power.
