Czech President Petr Pavel stated that NATO should respond with military measures, including the downing of aircraft, when Russian planes violate allied airspace.
According to Radio Prague International on September 21, Pavel commented on the recent incident in which three Russian MiG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace. He said that such actions demand a decisive reaction from the Alliance.
“Specifically with a military response. Russia will very quickly realize it has made a mistake and crossed the line of what is acceptable. Unfortunately, this is balancing on the edge of conflict, but it is simply not possible to give in to evil,” Pavel said in the interview.
The Czech president added that airspace violations should activate NATO’s defense mechanisms, including the downing of the aircraft involved.
“Russia will behave the way we allow it to. If we only condemn, downplay, or simplify Russia’s actions, these provocations will continue,” he noted.
Pavel also highlighted that recent Russian incursions in Poland, Estonia, and Romania are part of a broader pattern.
“What has happened in Poland and Estonia in recent days, what has been happening in Ukraine for four years, concerns all of us. If we do not maintain unity, sooner or later it will happen to us as well,” he said.
Earlier, Polish authorities reported that 19 Russian drones entered their airspace on September 10.
The Polish Air Force engaged several of them with onboard weapons. NATO responded by activating Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which calls for consultations among member states when the security of any ally is threatened.
The Estonian government also requested Article 4 consultations after the September 19 incident, when three MiG-31 fighters entered its airspace for 12 minutes. On the same day, Poland reported that two Russian jets breached the security zone around a Petrobaltic oil platform in the Baltic Sea.
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