Czech President calls for shooting down Russian planes if they violate NATO airspace
Pavel recalled that Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 in 2015 after violating its skies.
Czech President Petr Pavel has called on NATO for a tough response to Russian provocations in the airspace, such as the recent fighter jets flying into Estonia. Pavel said on Czech television that in such cases it is possible to use force and shoot down the aircraft of violators, pointing to Moscow's irresponsible behaviour, Echo24 reported.
An airspace violation is a reason to activate defence mechanisms and potentially shoot down an aircraft. Nobody would want that, neither from our side nor from the Russian side," Pavel said, recalling that Turkey had already resorted to such a measure in 2015, shooting down a Russian Su-24 in Syria.
The Czech president added that Russia is constantly testing NATO's strength.
They are testing our resilience, our readiness to defend ourselves. We have to be extremely firm in response to any violation, including a military response. Russia will realise very quickly that it has crossed acceptable boundaries," he said.
Echo24 notes that Pavel is not the only supporter in the Czech Republic of such a strong stance. Former Czech finance minister Miroslav Kalousek urged NATO to give the Kremlin a tough message: "Next time in the airspace of any of our countries we will shoot immediately and without warning. They will not understand otherwise."
The day before, three Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace at once, spending a total of 12 minutes there. Estonia then appealed to NATO allies by activating Article 4 of the treaty. It provides for mandatory consultations between allies, but does not provide for a direct military response.