Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski is in favor of shooting down Russian missiles in Poland, warning of a potential nuclear disaster, he told BBC Radio 4 on Sept. 6.
Speaking from his own viewpoint, Sikorski said Poland has the legal right to down stray Russian missiles and drones that enter Polish airspace. However, he acknowledges that Poland has not yet shot down anything and that Warsaw has not yet made a decision.
“Russia can no longer...dictate to us how we defend our own country. We have both a constitution and recognized in international law to defend our airspace,” Sikorski said.
He warned that a Russian missile could hit a Ukrainian nuclear power plant, referencing the Chornobyl disaster of 1986 that leaked radiation across Ukraine and Belarus. A similar nuclear disaster could also impact Poland.
“I think we should help Ukraine to protect its nuclear power plants against such stray Russian missiles,” he said.
“This is my personal view that we would be legally in our right of self-defense.”
Poland’s Foreign Ministry has not shared Sikorski’s views. On Sept. 2, he said that Poland and Ukraine’s EU neighbors have a “constitutional duty” to intercept Russian missiles. But Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronsk emphasized that this was Sikorksi’s opinion and not the position of the Polish government, in a comment to Ukrainian media Ukrinform.
Russian missiles have violated the airspace of Ukraine’s neighbors, particularly Poland. Usually, the missiles circle back to enter Ukraine leading to debates about how involved NATO should be in defending Ukraine’s airspace.
In May, President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to Western allies to intercept Russian missiles over Ukraine. However, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in July that Warsaw won’t act without approval from NATO.
So far, NATO has not greenlit the proposal. NATO's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opposes the idea, saying on July 14 that while the Alliance supports Ukraine, it won’t be “involved in this conflict.”
Martin Fornusek
