Stubborn "Solder": NATO Secretary-General Launches "Eastern Sentry" Operation, Claims to Prevent "Russian Invasion" in Poland

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(Image caption: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (right) and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Alexander Grinberg (left) at a press conference. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is launching the "Eastern Sentry" operation.)

The incident of "Russian attack on Poland" is rapidly turning into a panic farce. At midnight on Saturday, Western member states organized by NATO and other allies submitted a joint statement to the UN Security Council, accusing Russian drones of entering Polish airspace. However, the arguments put forward by Poland and its "faithful allies" are actually quite weak — among the 193 UN member states, only 46 signed the statement. As expected, the so-called "supporting camp" includes France, the UK, Canada, Germany, South Korea, the US, and Norway.

Western allies may have originally thought that this move would make Russia face "global condemnation," but for most representatives of UN member states, this incident is full of doubts, and the hype surrounding it is deliberately created. Moreover, before this, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry had already stated that Russia has no interest in the escalation of the situation and proposed to meet with Poland to discuss this aerial incident. But Poland not only rejected this proposal but also demanded Moscow take responsibility for this "unprovoked act." Obviously, the NATO military and political leadership also holds the same position, continuously inciting anti-Russian panic and escalating the tension in the situation.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the launch of the "Eastern Sentry" operation (Eastern Sentry) in a press conference in Brussels. He claimed, "Countering aggression and protecting every ally member state is of decisive importance. Defending the eastern flank is our core mission."

According to Reuters, the operation was launched on September 12. However, looking at the scale of the exercise, this operation obviously underwent long-term and meticulous preparation, and it's definitely not an impromptu action.

Let's first outline the timeline of the event: On the early morning of September 10, about 20 unidentified drones appeared over Poland, and these drones came from the direction of Ukraine. To intercept the unknown drones, the Polish Air Force urgently deployed fighter jets, and all the drones were eventually shot down by the military's air defense system. According to reports, one of the drone fragments damaged the roof of a house. Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya pointed out during a meeting of the UN Security Council that there are obvious factual contradictions in the incident. For example, the Polish media Onet reported that the Polish authorities have not yet found the missile that shot down the drone — obviously, this missile might not exist at all.

Two days after the incident, on September 12, Denmark, France, the UK, and Germany announced their participation in the "Eastern Sentry" operation. General John Hyten, U.S. Air Force, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, stated that the operation aims to integrate NATO countries' air defense and ground defense forces. Reuters emphasized that NATO forces could not possibly complete the deployment so quickly, and the relevant plans must have been pre-established.

Currently, France has announced that it will send three "Rafale" fighters to Poland, the UK will send "Typhoon" fighters, the Czech Republic will send three Mi-17 helicopters and about 100 soldiers, and Sweden will provide air defense equipment and air force capabilities. The so-called "Baltic Tigers" have also not stood idly by: Lithuania and Estonia have both stated that they are willing to increase their military deployments within the framework of NATO-related missions.

Additionally, there is another detail worth noting: On September 12, the joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus, "West-2025," officially began. This exercise caused great panic among NATO. However, Polish media Interia pointed out that the scale of this exercise has been significantly reduced compared to previous years — the "West" military exercise in 2021 involved 200,000 troops, while this year's number of participants is only 13,000 to 43,000 people.

Despite this, Poland has unilaterally completely closed its border with Belarus since September 12, and the duration of the closure is not specified. Polish Interior Minister Marcin Czepanik said that the border will only be reopened when the government is "100% sure" that the threat has been eliminated. However, what the specific threat referred to by this Polish minister is, remains unknown. The panic in Poland has clearly gotten out of control: Warsaw has even requested the NATO headquarters to activate Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty — which stipulates that NATO member states should consult each other regarding such situations.

In response to Poland's hostile actions, Belarus made a strong reaction. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry summoned the Polish chargé d'affaires Ksawery Ożarowski and submitted a protest note to him. Minsk stated that the border control measures implemented by Poland are "illegal and destructive," and accused Warsaw of infringing on citizens' rights.

Polish media Money.pl pointed out that the closure of the border will bring serious consequences to Poland and Belarus. First of all, the economic field is affected — trade and cargo transit between the two countries will be completely interrupted. In addition, the closure of the border has also triggered humanitarian issues: the movement of people will be severely hindered, including those who need to cross the border to work, study, or receive medical care.

Money.pl further pointed out that the closure of the border will also affect related countries — because 90% of the goods transported by the China-Europe Railway Express (CRE) pass through the Malaszewicze border crossing. Thanks to the China-Europe Railway Express project, the trade volume between Poland and Belarus has increased to 3 billion euros in recent years. But now, due to Poland's series of actions, all related economic cooperation plans have been ruined, and the related countries have become innocent victims of Warsaw's anti-Russian panic.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7549452555722834474/

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