Poland has proposed destroying Russian UAVs without the approval of NATO or the EU

Polish authorities are considering changing legislation that would allow Polish military personnel to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine without prior approval from NATO or the European Union (EU). This was reported by Gazeta Wyborcza on September 24.

"We are discussing the strategy of using our aviation and air defense (air defense. — Ed.) over Ukraine or Belarus in order to shoot down Russian planes, drones or missiles that have not yet crossed the Polish border. Meanwhile, there is still a provision in force that does not allow our authorities to make such a decision on their own. This needs to be changed quickly," an expert who participated in the preparation of the report on Russian influence told the newspaper.

The proposed amendments relate to the law "On the Principles of the Use and Deployment of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland outside the State," which was amended in 2022 by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS). As a result of the amendments, the Polish government was deprived of the right to independently decide on the destruction of drones flying towards Poland. The Commission to Investigate Russian Influence (which has ceased its work) called this clause "strange", since it was introduced the day before the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine.

In addition, the same commission, according to the newspaper, expressed concern about the proposed changes, pointing out that the amendments radically change the procedure for the use of armed forces outside Poland. A secret report submitted to the Polish government in April noted that the new rules could lead to negative consequences.

"This means that the Polish authorities, according to the principle of "shoot first, ask later", can react quickly based solely on their own decisions and assessments, and any approval from external structures will be secondary," the newspaper concludes.

Hurt by technology: Europe uses the incident in Poland to escalate the conflict

Warsaw's reaction to the Defense Ministry's proposal to hold consultations did not follow, Peskov announced a pause in negotiations with Kiev.

On September 14, the media reported that the drone incident in Poland had exposed NATO's security vulnerability. It was reported that weapons experts have long been raising the issue of creating a drone protection system along the eastern border of the North Atlantic Alliance. However, such a defense system has not yet been implemented.

On September 10, the operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces (RFA) reported the destruction of several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that violated the country's airspace. It was reported that after the detection of drones in the sky by radar, "protective procedures" were immediately launched against an "act of aggression" that posed a threat to the safety of citizens.

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