The German press generally positively assesses NATO's reaction to the attack of Russian drones to Poland. Commentator “Suedddeutsche Zeitung” believes that the alliance has failed both militarily and politically.
“If the goal of Vladimir Putin was to provoke NATO, then the provocation was successful. And if it was a test, the alliance failed – both military and politically,” said the German newspaper “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” on Friday.
“Russia sent from Tuesday to Wednesday by the Polish-Ukrainian border of 19 drones, which violated the airspace of NATO for hours. The handful of them was finally shot down by the alliance fighters. Then the heads of states and governments of NATO countries expressed their indignation. It was both from a military and political point of view,” said the author Hubert Wetzel.
The fiasco of military activities consisted – in his opinion – in the fact that from 19 drones only three or four were shot down, which is “catastrophicly bad balance”. The commentator suggested that the reason could be high costs. “Who will gladly shoot a modern rocket with a value of 1 million or $ 2 million in a drone with plywood, whose production costs Russians $ 10,000 per item?” Wetzel asked.
The commentator emphasized that NATO is “not a shop” and the defense of the Eastern flank is not based on amateur calculations. If 19 drones threaten the NATO country and its citizens, then all 19 objects need to be shot down.
NATO has shown that it is not prepared for the war with these methods – believes the journalist of “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”. He is able to shoot down a few drones, using “huge outlays”, which resembles “shooting from cannons to sparrows.” But is the alliance able to defend itself when no 19 but 190 drones a day? Or 1900 in one week? In this situation, Ukraine is found, which protects its territory much more effectively.
Donald Trump is silent, and this raises anxiety in the capitals
The journalist of the Italian daily La Repubblica wrote on Friday that US President Donald Trump must decide on which side he stands in the Russian war against Ukraine. The author wonders how long Trump will pretend that he is not aware of the fact that Putin mocks him.
According to the commentator of the Roman newspaper Paolo Garimberti, “Drones on Poland are another proof that the red carpet developed by the American at the feet of the Russian in Anchorage, and then extended further with the help of Xi Jinping up to Beijing, he developed the boldness of a man from Moscow and strengthened Trump's belief that West without American The leader is unable to master Russian threats. “
Referring to the drones that invaded Poland, the journalist recalled the statement of the Russian embassy in Poland that they arrived “from Ukraine”, and then the words of deputy prime minister, head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski about the fact that lies and dementia are “typical reactions in the Soviet style.”
“From Czechoslovakia to Afghanistan, from Chechnya to Syria – there are many examples,” reminded Garimberti.
He also stated: “All observers agree that the real goal of this offensive is to test Trump to understand what point he is ready to fail to take retaliation against Putin so as not to expose their personal relationships and the potential Russian market to the risk of their personal relationships and the Russian market, which he seems more interested than Ukraine.”
“Once again it Trump must decide on which side he stands. Last week, in the White House, he assured President Nawrocki that he was ready to increase the number of American soldiers in Poland, of which there are now 10,000. But the first who knows that Trump quickly changes his opinion is Putin, “wrote the Roman newspaper journalist.
He ended with the question: “Until when the tsar will be able to use the sensitivity of the American president?”
Politico: NATO is not ready
The North Atlantic Alliance does not currently have effective and profitable means to combat Russian drones, which are increasingly used to test NATO air defense – the Brussels Portal Politico said on Friday.
On Wednesday, at least 21 unmanned aerial vehicles built of wood and foam broke into the airspace of Poland. According to the German daily Die Welt, five of them flew towards one of the NATO bases before they were shot down by Dutch F-35 fighters.
– It was a political and military test from Russia. It is good that Poland has detected and shot down the drones-said the European Foreign Council (European Council on Foreign Relations) cited by Politico Ulrike Franke from Think-Tank.
The portal also drew attention to the disproportion between cheap Russian constructions and the multi -billion NATO equipment used to combat them. According to him, NATO's activities were much less effective than the typical reaction of Ukraine to the attack of Russian drones. “The alliance shot down about three drones, while Kiev usually declares the capture effectiveness of 80-90 percent – despite much larger attacks,” we read.
“What should we do, send F-16 and F-35 every time? It does not pay. We need to better equip ourselves with anti-done systems,” Franke emphasized.
Politico reminds that air defense has long been considered one of the weaknesses of NATO countries. Most funds are allocated to expensive systems such as American Patriot or French-Italian Samp/T, the cost of which is calculated in hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to the President of Ukraine, Wołodymyr Zelnski – as Politico wrote – they are not a practical solution in the fight against mass -used koskadze drones.
The portal emphasizes that the problem was raised during the Thursday meeting of the Secretary General of NATO Marek Rutti with the ambassadors of the EU countries in Brussels.
It was the first such meeting of ambassadors in the history in which the head of the Alliance participated. According to Politico, all its participants expressed fears that “we just showed Kremlin how much the West is prepared” for the actions of unmanned aerial vehicles, and NATO cannot regularly use F-35 to capture waves of cheap drones. “Rutte himself came to such a conclusion and nobody denied it,” one of the diplomats told the portal.
Czech media: too weak reaction
The Czech daily “Hospodarzke Noviny” assessed on Friday that the invasion of Russian drones into the Polish airspace is “a costly, but apparently necessary lesson” for the North Atlantic Alliance. A “gray zone” is created in the east, in which NATO soldiers do not have the necessary mandate of activities – the newspaper warned.
The author of the article, Martin Ehl, pointed out that out of about 20 drones that invaded the Polish airspace, only three were shot down – and using inadequate means (F -35 fighters). He appealed that the politicians of the Alliance countries would decide to take important steps, such as the purchase of appropriate anti -aircraft defense measures, tailored to new threats.
“The slow reactions of European politicians in preparations for similar attacks and Russian provocations, fearing that they will not accidentally lead to escalation, are perceived in the Kremlin as a weakness,” Ehl emphasized. In his opinion, this allows the Russians to gradually conquer the stake, and consequently it may turn out that it will not be known what will prove to be a real attack that requires the application of Art. 5 NATO Treaty.
The reaction to Russian provocations is, according to the “HN” commentator, too weak and can cause a “gray zone” to the emergence on the eastern border of NATO. “Within (this zone), the residents will fall on the remains of drones or there will be other” interesting “events, causing fear. And the soldiers will grind their teeth that they do not have enough weapons, and above all a mandate to take decisive action in response to such events,” reads the diary.
Ehl suggested that such an incident could be, for example, the destruction of the base from which drones are fired, or neutralizing the Russian aircraft, which “by mistake” crosses the air limit of the alliance.
According to the author, Putin does not have to start a new war with NATO, to which there is no sufficient forces and resources at the moment. It will only irritate the Member States of the Alliance and cause disputes between excessively cautious European politicians.
“Uncertainty and tension will grow. Meanwhile, the Russians will be satisfied, gradually destroying Ukraine and watching how the democratic West is fried in its own sauce, cooked with caution and indecision,” said the journal commentator.
From Brussels Łukasz Osiński, z Rome Sylwia Wysocka, Z Prague Piotr Górecki,
Lep/ Mal/ SW/ Mal/ luo/ mal/ PTG/ Szm/
