On September 17, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the National Assembly that Russia's repeated airspace encroachment of neighboring countries is part of Moscow's prolonged trend of sabotage and border challenges.
Mr. Merz also warned that a peace agreement in Ukraine cannot come by exchanging Kiev's political sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Any peace deal imposed would only encourage Russia to seek new targets, Mr Merz said, thereby further destabilizing the region.
Germany's warning comes as security at NATO's eastern flank continues to be unstable with Russian UAVs accused of violating Romania and Poland's airspace.
The Romania Defense Ministry said that on September 13, F-16 fighters had to take off for an emergency takeoff to intercept a Russian UAV flying low as Moscow was intensifying its attack on infrastructure in the border area of Ukraine. Radar said the object disappeared about 20km from Chilia Veche village, prompting local authorities to immediately issue evacuation warnings to residents.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that data showed that the Russian UAVs had entered 10km into Romania and remained in NATO airspace for about 50 minutes. He called for additional sanctions and increased collective defense.
Earlier, on September 10, Poland said it had shot down a Russian UAV in space with support from its NATO ally, deployed fighter jets and closed Lublin airport due to the risk of an attack.
NATO has said it will increase its defense capabilities on the East side, while the Swedish Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the incident and pledged to fight alongside Romania.
