On Friday (September 12), the Inspector General of the German Armed Forces, Carsten Breuer, visited participants in the “Quadriga” NATO exercise in Lithuania, and spoke plainly: “Russia’s recent violation of Polish airspace has once again shown how important our commitment is,” he said. “Our contribution to the defense of NATO’s eastern flank is reliable ― we are ready to protect every inch of the alliance’s territory.”
The European NATO countries are keen to demonstrate determination following Russia’s violations of Polish airspace on Wednesday.
Four German fighter jets for Poland instead of two
The German government in Berlin did not want to leave it at strong words alone: On Thursday evening, Germany sent another two of its Eurofighter combat aircraft to eastern Poland to help monitor and defend NATO airspace on the border with Ukraine.
After NATO was alarmed on Wednesday by reports that a total of 19 Russian drones had violated Polish airspace, top government officials in Berlin also appeared before cameras and condemned the incident in strong terms.
While initial reactions were rather cautious because it was unclear whether these were deliberate provocations, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) gave a clear message in the evening: “Russia has endangered human lives in Poland. In a country that belongs to NATO and the European Union. This completely reckless action by the Russian government is part of a long series of provocations that we have been seeing for months in the Baltic region and on NATO’s eastern flank.”
Showing restraint
That assessment was not changed even after US President Donald Trump publicly wondered whether it might just have been a Russian mistake after all. On Friday, the spokesman for the German Chancellor, Stefan Kornelius, told journalists in Berlin: “The German government and NATO currently have no doubts about the origin of the drones. Namely, from Russia. I also believe that the number of drones indicates that these were not random stray missiles.”
Nevertheless, the German government and other NATO countries are showing restraint. Germany’s Ministry of Defense put out a statement reiterating that the “Quadriga” exercise, for example, should never be seen as a response to the large-scale maneuvers in Russia and Belarus that have been running since Friday, but is exclusively defensive in nature.
Will Europe stand up to Putin’s latest provocation?
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The chairman of the Bundestag’s defense committee, Thomas Röwekamp, a CDU party colleague of the chancellor, however, suggested that following the drone incident, NATO should consider taking action outside NATO territory.
“It must be possible, with the consent of the country concerned, such as Ukraine, to neutralize drones that threaten NATO territory even in their airspace,” Röwekamp told Der Spiegel magazine.
Criticism from the opposition
Germany’s opposition Green Party has called on the government to take a more forceful stance, for example by supplying more weapons to Ukraine. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin feels secure enough to openly provoke NATO, Green Party member of parliament Anton Hofreiter told DW.
“That’s the result of Europeans regularly showing weakness,” Hofreiter said. “Including sanctions that Merz keeps announcing but then doesn’t follow through on, and announcements of arms deliveries to Ukraine that never materialize. As a result, Russia believes it can get away with more and more.”
On Friday, Germany followed France’s example and summoned the Russian ambassador in Berlin to the Foreign Office because of the Russian drone incursion, arguing that Russia’s actions had been “dangerous and unacceptable.”
This article was originally written in German.
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