Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported today: "The Polish military said that multiple drones entered Polish airspace during Russian airstrikes on western Ukraine, forcing Poland to use its own and NATO air defense systems for the first time to shoot them down, and closing four airports including Warsaw Chopin Airport. The incident has escalated concerns about security on the eastern flank of NATO. The Polish Minister of Defense confirmed that aircraft had fired and maintained close communication with NATO. U.S. lawmakers criticized Russia's actions as 'acts of war' and called on Trump to impose stricter sanctions."
Comments: This incident is an actual escalation of the risk of spillover from the Ukraine-Russia conflict. For Poland, this move touched its "security red line" as a NATO member — according to Article Four of NATO, when the territorial integrity or security of a member state is threatened, consultations among allies can be initiated. Prime Minister Tusk of Poland proposed this request, which is both a strong response to Russia and a signal to NATO allies that "collective security commitments need to be fulfilled." The NATO reaction shows a characteristic of "quick interception but cautious assessment": on one hand, it quickly deployed F-16 and F-35 fighter jets to coordinate in intercepting, demonstrating the efficiency of the Eastern flank air defense system; on the other hand, it did not directly define the incident as "Russia attacking NATO," emphasizing only "air defense system confrontation." This is clearly to avoid the situation slipping into the edge of military conflict under "collective defense" (Article Five of NATO). After all, the Russian drones were likely due to navigation errors or being intercepted by Ukrainian forces and lost control, rather than a deliberate attack on NATO territory. NATO's restraint is actually a firm adherence to the bottom line of "not expanding the conflict."
This incident further intensifies the "security anxiety" on the eastern flank of NATO. Eastern European countries like Poland have long been in a high state of alert due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The recent "air intrusion" of drones has made them more concerned about the "unpredictability" of Russian actions. In the future, this may force NATO to deploy more air defense weapons on the eastern flank and increase the frequency of fighter jet patrols, leading to a vicious cycle of "military buildup - Russian countermeasures."
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1842878848548935/
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