LOS ANGELES (OC).–European Union officials used the Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace to highlight the clear-and-present danger Russia posses to the Western Alliance. But none of Russia’s drones that drifted into Poland actively attacked any Polish target. Yet if you listen to the EU, Russian President Vladimir Putin flouted Poland’s territorial boundaries, posing an ongoing threat to the European Union. President Donald Trump wasn’t too concerned about what could have been a legitimate accident by Russia. No attempt was made by Russia to attack any Polish target yet the EU has been stating what a threat Russia posses to the Western Alliance. Statements from the EU run counter to Trump’s efforts to bring the war to an end. When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls Putin a “predator,” how does that help the peace process?
NATO invoked Article 4 over the Russian drone incursion, a mandated consultation over what to do with the incident. Article 4 is not Article 5 which allows the Western Alliance to defend a fellow NATO member that was actually attacked. Poland wasn’t attacked by Russia, it simply had some 19 Russian drones stray into Polish airspace. Whatever damage happened in Poland had to do with debris from a shoot-down of Russian drones. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the EU invoked Article 4 to decide what to do next with Russia. Kremlin officials denied that the incident was a deliberate violation of Polish airspace but rather an inadvertent straying due to electronic jamming. Tusk called the violation of Polish airspace “the closest we have been to open conflict since WW Two,” though saying “no reason to believe we’re on the brink of war.”
Poland geographically happens to be on Russia’s border, so it’s always possible that an incident like this could occur. Putin isn’t interested picking a fight with NATO. Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it was good that NATO shot down Russian drones straying into Polish airspace. Trump isn’t too concerned about the incident because he doe not see Putin trying to pick a fight with NATO. If Zelensky and the EU would go to the peace table and end the war, Trump sees no reason for any of these mishaps to happen. But has the war rages on without a peace process, the chance of miscalculation is always there. Trump warned Zelensky in the Oval Office Feb. 28 that continuing the war could start WW III or nuclear war. Zelensky dismissed Trump’s remarks, going to the EU to reject the idea that he has to trade land-for-peace.
Invoking Article 4 looked a bit extreme for Poland because Russia did not attack with its drones any Polish target. Whatever damage took place in Poland, it occurred because of collateral damage from the shoot down of Russian drones. Mirroring the EU position on Russia, Tusk said that Russia presented a real threat to Polish citizens. But if Russia targeted nothing in Poland, what’s the threat to Poland or its citizens. Poland shares a border with Ukraine and Russia, getting it dangerously close to the war zone. So, if the war escalates because the EU has no peace plan in sight, the Ukraine War could spill easily into Poland. Where is the EU’s commitment to finding an end to the Ukraine War? Does Brussels really want to fund perpetual proxy war with the Russian Federation? When you listen to EU officials, it doesn’t sound like they want peace.
Whatever happened with Russian drones crossing into Polish airspace, it’s insignificant in the scheme of things, certainly not hinting that Putin’s trying to break the NATO alliance. What’s NATO supposed to do now? Actually join Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin. Tusk and other Polish officials need to get a grip on what happened, when they site directly on the border with Ukraine and Russia. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer showed his overreaction, calling Russian actions “barbaric” in Ukraine. Calling the war a “barbaric attack on Ukraine and th egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones is deeply concerning,” Starmer exaggerates the significance of Russian drones. Starmer acts like the British people are all in when it comes to joining the Ukraine War. But all his talk hasn’t amounted to the U.K. doing anything.
When it comes to the EU’s response to Russian drones straying into Polish airspace, it’s the begging of nothing, certainly not a Russian invasion of Poland. Whey the Baltic States would invoke Article 4 to deal with an accidental incursion into Polish airspace speaks volumes about the Russophobia that exists in Brussels. When it comes to the Ukraine War, it’s clear that the EU doesn’t want it to stop because they fear a future invasion of EU territory. There are no facts that support that Putin wants to pick a fight with NATO. If the EU continues its resistance to peace, they could push a wider escalation to the Ukraine War. Trump points out that the longer the war keeps going, the more room for miscalculation and escalation. EU officials should push Zelensky to make a deal with Putin even if it involves some Ukrainian territory, anything to end the war.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
