Poland briefly closes airspace as NATO increases presence in the Baltic Sea

As Russia launches a new wave of strikes against Ukraine, Poland has briefly closed some of its airspace southeast of the city’s capital Warsaw due to “unplanned military activity.”

The transatlantic security bloc NATO announced that its mission in the Baltic Sea is being strengthened in response to drone incursions in Denmark and reported drone sightings in Norway with the deployment of Polish and allies in its airspace on Sunday.

As diplomatic efforts to end the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine falter, new information highlights the rising tension in the region, which raises the possibility of a wider conflict erupting into Europe.

After Russia launched strikes on Ukraine, the Polish armed forces reported in the most recent incident that it scrambled aircraft to ensure the security of its airspace.

The actions were described as preventive and intended to secure airspace and safeguard people, according to the statement.

Up until early in the morning, Lublin and Rzeszow’s airspace was expected to be closed.

As of 03:00 GMT on Sunday, Ukraine’s air force had issued air raid alerts in response to Russian strikes.

Russian drones intercepted earlier this month by Polish and NATO forces entering Poland’s airspace. This was their first direct military retaliation against Moscow since the Kremlin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Sergey Lavrov, the Russian prime minister of foreign affairs, warned NATO and the EU that “any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.”

Lavrov insisted at the UN General Assembly on Saturday that Moscow was prepared to react if provoked but that it had no intentions to attack the West.

In response to a string of incidents in Denmark, NATO announced on Saturday that it would be upgrading its presence in the Baltic Sea with an air-defence frigate and other assets, including “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms.”

Unidentified drones were reportedly spotted overnight on Saturday near military installations.

Copenhagen Airport, the busiest airport in the Nordic region, was also forced to close for several hours late on Monday due to the presence of several large drones in its airspace. In the days that followed, five smaller Danish airports, both for business and for military, temporarily closed.

The incursions, according to Danish authorities, are hybrid attacks, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called them “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”

Police in neighboring Norway announced on Saturday that they were looking into possible drone sightings close to Norway’s Oerland Air Force base, which is the main hub for Norway’s F-35 jets.

A joint headquarters for the Norwegian armed forces told the Reuters news agency, “The guards at the base made several observations outside the base’s perimeter early on Saturday.”

Brynjar Stordal said in a separate statement to the AFP news agency, “The investigation will find out what it was.”

He claimed that “at least two drones” flew “for about an hour” in a restricted area close to the base before disappearing.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in Germany reported on Saturday that Schleswig-Holstein, a state in northern Germany, had been spotted over the state on Friday.

He claimed that he wants to make air safety regulations more stringent so that drones can be shot down by the armed forces.

Defense ministers from about 10 EU countries made the announcement on Friday that building a “drone wall” to secure their borders is a priority.

According to state news agency RIA Novosti, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the measures would “accrobate the military and political tensions on our continent.”

Source: Aljazeera