Germany has offered to assist Poland in surveilling its airspace from Thursday after a Polish village near the Ukrainian border was hit by a missile on Tuesday.
The missile hit resulted in two casualties and marked the first explosion on NATO territory since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February.
“As an immediate reaction, we will offer German Eurofighters as reinforcement for Poland’s policing of its airspace with Combat Air Patrols,” German Defence Ministry spokesperson Christian Thiels told reporters on Wednesday.
If desired by Warsaw, this could begin as soon as Thursday, he added.
According to the spokesperson, the support of Eurofighters could be provided without relocating the aircraft to Polish territory. “Patrols can be conducted directly from German air force bases,” he explained, adding this approach had been tried and tested before.
Meanwhile, Thies also said the ministry is looking into extending the deployment of a Patriot air defence system in Slovakia, which Berlin and The Hague had jointly sent to the country in March this year.
According to the spokesperson, German defence minister Christine Lambrecht has decided that the system should stay in Slovakia at least until the end of 2023, while the ministry is also looking into whether the deployment could be extended until 2024.
Currently, most commentators, including the White House and the Polish president Andrzej Duda, agree the missile hit was most likely not a deliberate attack by Russia but a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile.
(Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
