Berlin - In response to the violations of Polish airspace by Russian drones, Germany is increasing its participation in the protection of NATO's eastern border.

The surveillance of the airspace over Poland by German fighter jets will be extended and expanded, government spokesman Stefan Kornelius (59) announced on Thursday afternoon.

Number of fighter jets will be doubled from two to four

The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) are already operating over Poland with two Eurofighter fighter jets stationed in Rostock-Laage. The number of aircraft will now be doubled to four, the Ministry of Defense announced. Furthermore, the deployment, previously planned only until September 30, will initially be extended until December 31.

Kornelius added that the German government would also intensify its support for Ukraine. He did not provide any details. Within the EU, Germany would work toward the rapid adoption of a"robust 19th sanctions package" to further put pressure on Russia.

Merz sees “serious threat to peace throughout Europe”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (69, CDU) had already stated on Wednesday that he did not consider the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones to be an accident. He viewed these incidents as"a very serious threat to peace throughout Europe."

Merz spoke of a "new quality of attacks that we are seeing from Russia." NATO air defenses worked, he said, but not as well as they should have."This will trigger discussions within NATO. It will, of course, also trigger discussions in the European Union."