Merz on the drone attack on Poland: NATO’s air defense system did not work as well as it should have

The German Chancellor acknowledged that NATO air defense in Poland has not worked effectively enough and needs to be significantly strengthened.

The incursion of Russian drones into Poland has exposed serious problems in NATO’s air defense system in Europe, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday evening in Berlin, Politico reported .

“First of all, I would like to point out that European air defense, NATO air defense, worked, but of course not as well as it should have, to prevent the intrusion of such a large number of drones into Polish airspace in time,” Merz said.

He stressed that the incident would be a topic of discussion among allies. “It will trigger discussions within NATO. It will also trigger discussions within the European Union,” the chancellor noted.

Merz also promised that Berlin would continue to insist on strengthening defense capabilities: “We are and will remain determined to significantly increase the combat readiness and defense capabilities of the European part of NATO.”

(C)UNIAN 2025