German Foreign Minister Johann Wandefull recommended unity and calm, but also a “decisive and well thought-out response” to Russian provocations, and stressed the need for closer cooperation between the European Union and NATO. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius
also called for calm.

“We are united, we are keeping our cool and we will not allow ourselves to be driven to escalation. At the same time, we allow no doubt about the fact that we are determined and ready to jointly repel any threat,” Vandevol said from Warsaw, where he is meeting with his counterparts from Poland, France and Ukraine, referring to recent violations of Polish and Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets and drones. “Russia wants to test our resolve, to cause turmoil. This is dangerous and must be answered in a clear and unified way,” the German foreign minister added, noting that recent incidents with drones and hybrid attacks “are not coincidence, or mistakes, but deliberate attacks in the ‘grey zone’, part of a pattern that targets our airspace, our critical infrastructure as a whole and our readiness to act.”

“NATO is at all times vigilant, capable of action and protecting every inch of our Alliance territory,” Johann Vandevol assured, describing constant vigilance as “the price of our freedom” while underlining the need to continuously adapt to different types of threats. Particularly in the case of drones, he said, our capabilities must be further developed, there must be a faster response, and closer linking of systems.

For his part, Defense Secretary Boris Pistorius said recent incidents prove that Russia is “becoming an ever greater threat to NATO” and that Moscow is “testing NATO allies with increasing speed and intensity” while Vladimir Putin is “deliberately trying to undermine European security and the territorial integrity of European nations.” But “he will not succeed, we will not allow ourselves to be drawn into the trap of his continued escalation, we will keep our cool and remain firm and determined,” Pistorius made clear, also from Poland, where he is attending a security forum.