Two days ago, Finland and Sweden scrambled fighter jets to intercept and identify a Russian military formation flying over the Gulf of Finland.
A Finnish F/A-18 Hornet and a Swedish JAS 39 Gripen carried out their first-ever joint operational air interception mission. They shadowed a Russian detachment consisting of a Tu-134 transport aircraft, MiG-31 interceptors, and Su-30 fighters in international airspace.
Poland scrambled fighter jets after a Russian military Mi-8 helicopter crossed the border from the exclave of Kaliningrad and spent 42 seconds in Polish airspace.
The events follow warnings from Danish military intelligence regarding a rising risk of Russian hybrid warfare and border-testing actions targeting NATO member states.
Czech President Petr Pavel insists that NATO must demonstrate its willingness to respond to Russian aggression, or Moscow will keep pushing the alliance and its European boundaries.
“There might be a time when we will have to shoot down some of these planes or unmanned vehicles that are testing our readiness,” Pavel, a retired general and former chair of NATO’s Military Committee, predicted in a conversation with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City this week.
Our NATO allies want us to go to war with Russia, which holds more nuclear weapons than any other nation in the world. They also have China.
Pavel said alliance members understandably want to avoid escalation, as he calls for escalation to show strength.
“They are, on one hand, provoking. On the other, testing what our reaction will be,” Pavel detailed.
He doesn’t believe Russia is serious about negotiating in good faith with Ukraine given the lack of reasonable conditions. He said the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East exposed the weapons shortage.