Czech president calls for targeting Russian aircraft that enter NATO territory
Photo: Czech President Petr Pavel (Getty Images)
Czech President Petr Pavel believes NATO should respond militarily to violations by Russia, including shooting down Russian aircraft, according to Radio Prague International.
The Czech president commented on the incident involving Russian MiG-31 jets that violated Estonian airspace. In his view, NATO must respond to such cases.
"In particular, with a military reaction. Russia will quickly realize that it made a mistake and crossed the line of what is acceptable. Unfortunately, this is balancing on the edge of conflict, but yielding to evil is simply impossible," he said.
Pavel believes that airspace violations are grounds for activating defensive measures, including shooting down such aircraft.
"What has happened in recent days in Poland and Estonia, and what has been occurring in Ukraine over the past four years, concerns all of us, because if we do not maintain unity, sooner or later it will happen to us as well," the Czech president added.
Russian MiGs in Estonia
On September 19, three Russian MiG-31 jets violated Estonian airspace. The Russian fighters were in Estonian airspace for 12 minutes. This marks the fourth time Russia has breached Estonia’s airspace this year.
Following the incident, the Estonian government requested NATO to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
Additionally, Poland reported that on September 19, two Russian fighter jets violated the safety zone around the Petrobaltic drilling platform in the Baltic Sea.
