Alliance must show Russia that violation of NATO airspace is unacceptable - Dutch Defense Minister
Kyiv • UNN
Ruben Brekelmans condemned the violation of NATO airspace by a Russian drone in Latvia. He called on the Alliance to demonstrate unity and readiness to act in response to such provocations by Russia.
All NATO member states must demonstrate a clear response to Russia to prevent violations of the Alliance's airspace, as happened in Latvia. This was stated by Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans in an interview with Delfi, UNN reports.
Details
I certainly condemn any violation of NATO airspace, as well as Latvian airspace
According to him, these are very dangerous actions of the Russian Federation that could lead to an even greater escalation. The Dutch minister said that the incident with the Russian drone in Latvia should be condemned not only by the Netherlands, but also by the entire NATO alliance.
We, the Netherlands, believe that it is also very important to show Russia that we, NATO, stand firmly together and will not tolerate any violations of our airspace. (...) We have to send a very clear message and a very clear message to Russia that such violations are unacceptable and NATO will act if necessary
Addendum
The Dutch Defense Minister explained that Russia's strategy is to take small steps to "probe" the situation to see how far it can go.
If we are talking about unmanned aerial vehicles, for example, simple drones, then of course, individual member states have their own air defense systems
At the same time, he acknowledged that in some places the situation is more complicated, with individual states needing NATO's support. Brekelmans is convinced that the Alliance should be ready to provide this support.
And we have to constantly discuss with our allies whether we have enough means to protect our airspace. (...) Because, as I said, Russia's message should be clear: violation of NATO airspace is unacceptable
Recall
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs reportedthat a Russian military drone crashed in eastern Latvia on September 7. Subsequently the leadership of the country's National Armed Forces admitted that the Russian drone that crashed in the Rezekne region was a Shaheddrone.
