“NATO must shoot down Russian drones in its airspace”
Dutch Minister of Defence, Ruben Brekelmans, is supporting his Lithuanian counterpart, Laurynas Kasciunas.
If Russian drones fly in the airspace of, for example, the Baltic states, NATO must be able to shoot them down if necessary. The Dutch Minister of Defence now also says this to the ANP news agency.
This month, a Russian drone made in Iran crashed in Latvia.
"Russia is taking an unacceptable risk in these types of cases," says Brekelmans. For example, an accident could take place with victims, resulting in a rapid escalation.
The Dutch Minister of Defence believes that NATO's response to these types of incidents is currently "not sharp and clear enough". The minister believes that it's primarily up to a country to defend its airspace. "But we also have to see what NATO can do." Aircraft from NATO countries are currently patrolling over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but have not yet been given permission to shoot down drones.
(MH with SR for Tagtik/Source: ANP/Illustration: Aleksey Kashmar for Unsplash)