The deliberate incursion by Russian drones into EU member Poland – and their downing by Nato aircraft– make the case for the repeated refrain from EU leaders that “Ukraine’s security is Europe’s security”. Taoiseach Micheál Martin recognised as much when he said that Ireland stood in solidarity with Poland and its right to defend its territory.
Poland’s president Donald Tusk said that his country’s action was prompted by 19 violations of its airspace. Invoking Article 4’s mutual protection guarantee in the Nato Treaty, he warned that military conflict was “closer than at any time since the second World War”.
The operation involved Dutch and Polish fighter jets, while German patriot missiles were put on alert, and an Italian early warning aircraft provided support. Nato leaders condemned what they described as Moscow’s “testing” of the military alliance’s defences, just two days ahead of Russia and Belarus beginning large-scale war games on eastern Europe’s border.
The imperative of solidarity with Ukraine and Poland, including a pledge to build an EU drone “wall” and of massively strengthening EU security and defence, were central themes of EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s state of the union address in Strasbourg yesterday.
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“Battlelines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now,” she warned, asking if “Europe has the stomach for this fight,” or the political will. The commission would be proposing more sanctions, investment in arms and space surveillance technology, and exploring means to tap on Ukraine’s behalf into the huge stack of Russian frozen funds held in the EU.
Military experts say the attack points to the urgent need for Nato to build its air defences, to prepare it against the kind of drone attacks which Ukraine now regularly faces. The worry is that its response this time may encourage Putin to push again, particularly given the uncertain stance of the US in Nato’s defence structures.
Von der Leyen’s address could hardly have been against a more troubled international backdrop. Much criticised by MEPs and by some member states for her muted criticism of Israel , she insisted that what was happening in Gaza was “unacceptable”. She pledged to support the curtailment of bilateral aid to Israel, to partially suspend trade aspects of the association agreement, and backed sanctions on extremists.
The EU’s place and strategic role in the world, and its political and trade relationships, are now centre stage. As von der Leyen points out, new ambition also requires a badly needed, self-critical look at whether the union itself is fit for purpose. In terms of its ability to defend itself, the Russian drone incursion raises vital questions. And points to the importance of solidarity in the presence of an aggressive and unpredictable neighbour.
