NATO Rolls Out Eastern Sentry After Drone Breaches in Poland and Romania
In a week that began with sirens and ended with a new playbook, reporter Giorgia Valente traces how NATO shifted from routine air policing to a mobile air-and-missile-defense posture after Poland and Romania said Russian drones violated their airspace. The incursions on Sept. 9–10 looked like probes: tracks and debris in Poland point to decoys with auxiliary tanks meant to stretch warning time and stress intercepts. NATO’s reply is Operation Eastern Sentry, a flexible framework that lets commanders push fighters, sensors, and ground batteries toward risk—deterring below-threshold forays without tripping Article 5, which makes an attack on one an attack on all.
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Poland’s Operational Command counted about 19 drones overnight; days later, Romania’s Defense Ministry said one loitered for roughly 50 minutes before turning back toward Ukraine. Analysts Shary Mitidieri and Marco Cencio call the posture “more visible and credible,” with first scrambles logged and regional plans, including Aegis Ashore, knitting integrated air and missile defense. Legal lines still matter: governments want wreckage with serials, layered radar, and telemetry before attribution rises above “high confidence.” Meanwhile, Warsaw fortifies its border as Russia and Belarus run Zapad-2025; Finland and Sweden add depth; Europe works to fix munitions and short-to-medium air defense gaps within 12–36 months; and the US provides a “light but persistent” presence.
Valente’s full report lays out the stakes: keep Eastern Sentry agile while avoiding escalation, decide how much evidence is enough to name and shame, and close the seams drones exploit. It’s a playbook built for daily agility today. If Moscow keeps testing—and Europe keeps closing gaps—the eastern flank could settle into a steadier deterrent rhythm. For the sourcing, the legal thresholds, and the on-the-ground detail, read Valente.
