The Economist: Downing of Russian aircraft could cause rift in NATO

For decades, Russia has occasionally violated the national airspace of NATO allies. Over the past year, however, these incursions have roughly doubled in frequency and become more serious.

According to The Economist, the airspace violation in Estonia was the most significant such intrusion in the country in over 20 years.

Meanwhile, the large-scale drone attack on Poland marked the biggest violation in the alliance’s 76-year history.

The Economist notes that, until this year, NATO had invoked Article 4 — which initiates consultations among the alliance’s 32 members — only seven times in its history. In the past two weeks, however, it has been invoked twice: first by Poland, and then by Estonia.

On September 19, Italy, Finland, and Sweden scrambled fighter jets to intercept three Russian aircraft, which acknowledged the intercept with a wing wave but did not communicate via radio or alter their course.

In addition, from September 22 to 27, Copenhagen and Oslo airports were temporarily closed due to unidentified drones detected in their airspace.

Two days later, Swedish officials reported that drones had been spotted over the Karlskrona archipelago in the east of the country.

According to The Economist, Russia’s recent actions are likely intended to sow divisions between Europe and the United States, as well as among European NATO members themselves.

By Vugar Khalilov