Is NATO too lax?

First experts call for Russian jets to be shot down

A Russian MIG-31 fighter jet(Bild: AFP/FORSVARSMAKTEN)

Russia has recently violated the airspace of NATO countries on several occasions. Analysts and politicians are surprised at the timid reactions to this. The first voices are calling for the consistent "shooting down" of Russian intruders - otherwise even more delicate scenarios would threaten.

"Either we shoot down Russian planes and drones that violate our airspace or we take other measures, such as canceling Russian diplomatic visas or stopping ships from the shadow fleet," explained renowned security expert Nico Lange in a post on Platform X.

Lax responses to provocations would promote even more delicate scenarios: "If Russian violations of our airspace continue without concrete consequences, Putin will constantly expand the gray area and steadily increase the dangers for us."

German politicians also in favor of shoot-down
Meanwhile, official voices are also calling for tougher action. CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter, former colonel and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was similarly clear: "After the weak response so far to Russian aggression against us, it should come as no surprise if the US continues to attack and test our reaction."

This map should show the flight path of the Russian fighter jets:

Observation missions would "finally" have to become defense missions: "Violations will be answered robustly. End of testing, because consistently shot down, as Turkey did in 2015 in the event of a violation by RUS! After that, there were no more Russian airspace violations because the US understands strength and consistency." The Kremlin escalates so that the West de-escalates.

Kiesewetter is regarded as a particularly staunch ally of Ukraine. His views are also controversial within the CDU. In his example, he refers to a case from 2015, when the Turkish air force downed a Russian SU 24 fighter jet in the Turkish-Syrian border region. It did so just 17 seconds after entering Turkish airspace. The pilot survived the crash, but was subsequently killed on the ground by Islamists.

The incident caused a diplomatic ice age between Ankara and the Kremlin. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his "deep regret for what happened" to the Russian state and issued an official apology to the pilot's family, which was seen as a diplomatic victory in the Kremlin. However, there were no further airspace violations.

Meanwhile, the EU heads of state and government want to discuss a "collective response" to the violation of European airspace by Russia at their meeting in Copenhagen on October 1. This was announced by EU Council President António Costa. The latest Russian provocations over Estonia also caused a stir in Austria.

Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) spoke to the "Krone" newspaper of a "serious matter". "Russia is obviously trying to test European infrastructures and alarm chains. These are targeted provocations that must be rejected in the strongest possible terms," said Tanner.

Once again, "the European states must work quickly and intensively on their defense capabilities". The Skyshield missile defense shield is an indispensable part of these efforts. The Minister emphasized that more speed was needed here.

A Russian MIG-31 fighter jet(Bild: AFP/FORSVARSMAKTEN)

Airspace violation lasting several minutes
As a reminder: according to Estonian army information, three MIG-31 fighter jets entered the airspace near the Baltic Sea island of Vaindloo in the early hours of Friday morning without permission and remained there for a total of twelve minutes. The fighter jets had approached the Petrobaltic drilling platform at an altitude of 150 meters, the spokeswoman for the Polish Ministry of the Interior later wrote on X.

NATO responded immediately, with Italian Air Force fighter jets intercepting the Russian aircraft. While Estonia requested consultations under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, Moscow denied the incident.