Fears of air clash .. Does NATO collide with Russia’s planes?

The American newspaper “Politico” published a new report stating that the repeated violations carried out by Russian aircraft, of the atmosphere of NATO countries in recent weeks, have sparked upward controversy inside the alliance on how to respond, including the option to shoot down the aircraft.

In a joint statement, NATO ambassadors stressed that “the alliance will not hesitate to use all military and non -military tools, according to international law to defend itself and protect its members,” but Moscow insists that it did not make any mistake. However, observers pointed to a fundamental contrast between the Russian and Western positions; Moscow considers that it is in a state of military conflict with the West, while NATO confirms that it is a defensive alliance aimed at deterrence and avoiding escalation.
“There is a fundamental difference between Moscow and NATO. Russia has said it believes that it is in a military conflict with us and with the West. We do not see it, and for this the rules of engagement with us are different,” said Charlie Salonius-Pasterak, CEO of the Research Center.
Ona Longsco, a spokeswoman for the name of NATO, and the colleague currently at the Royal Institute of Services in London, noted that the rules for military dealings inside NATO remain confidential, as they determine “the criteria for what the army can do in any specific situation, which means that they differ greatly according to the task or the process. The main political guidance is that it is a defensive alliance that aims to deter the world and prevent any conflict, and if this fails, defense against it and defeat it.
However, every member state remains the right to defend its airspace according to its national decisions, which prompted countries like Lithuania and Romania recently to amend its bases, to deal with violations faster. Estonia’s conversation.
In the incident last Friday, NATO refrained from dropping the Russian fighters, justifying this by the absence of a “direct threat”, at a time when analysts warned of the risks of escalation and the possibility of Russia to exploit the absence of a clear American position.
“The decisions regarding the shooting always depend on the evaluation of the threat,” said NATO Secretary -General Mark Route.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Estonia stressed that “there are different criteria for the use of force,” explaining that the incident did not call this even though it was intentional.
Do the rules of engagement change?
The voices demanding the tightening of the rules of engagement are increasing, as some leaders of Eastern Europe, including the President of the Czech Republic, called for a more powerful response in the coming times, including the shooting down of Russian aircraft.
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, US President Donald Trump said that “he believes that NATO countries can shoot down the penetrating Russian aircraft.” The Polish Foreign Minister confirmed this, saying: “Concept.”
It is worth noting that the last incident in which a member state of NATO dropped a Russian plane dating back to 2015, when Turkey shot down a “Sukhoi-24” fighter after a short penetration of its airspace, which led to a diplomatic crisis with Moscow that later ended with Ankara’s apology, but with the interruption of Russian air violations. (24)