Poland says has 'duty' to down stray Russian missiles

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Poland says has 'duty' to down stray Russian missiles
by AFP Staff Writers
Warsaw (AFP) Sept 2, 2024

Warsaw has a "constitutional duty" to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine that are on course to hit Polish territory, Poland's foreign minister told the Financial Times in an interview published Monday.

The Polish top diplomat's remarks come a week after the NATO country's airspace was breached by what the army said was likely a drone after Russia pummelled neighbouring Ukraine with deadly strikes.

Despite a week-long ground search, the suspected drone has not been found.

During a new wave of Russian aerial attacks on Monday, Poland scrambled its fighter jets to the Ukrainian border to protect its airspace.

"Membership in NATO does not trump each country's responsibility for the protection of its own airspace - it's our own constitutional duty," Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told FT in an interview.

"I'm personally of the view that, when hostile missiles are on course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defence (to strike them) because once they do cross into our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone is significant," he added.

Following Sikorski's comments, a NATO official said that the alliance "has a responsibility to prevent Russia's war from escalating further," adding that "NATO is not a party to the conflict and NATO will not become a party to the conflict".

"We recognise the right of every ally protect its own airspace, however what individual allies do in support of Ukraine can also matter for NATO as a whole," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week urged European nations to help down drones and missiles over Ukraine.

In March, Poland reported a breach of its airspace by a Russian cruise missile, demanding an explanation from Moscow.

A similar incident occurred in December 2023, when a Russian missile penetrated Polish airspace for several minutes before returning to Ukraine.

In November 2022, two people were killed when a Ukrainian air-defence missile fell on the Polish village of Przewodow, close to the Ukrainian border.

Before the missile was identified as Ukrainian, fears were raised that NATO would be dragged into an escalation of the conflict with Russia if its collective defence provisions were triggered.