Two days ago, Russian drones were launched over Poland. Whether it was a threat or a provocation, NATO, led by Mark Rutte and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Alexus G. Grynkewich, announced the launch of a military operation to protect the eastern flank. It's called"Eastern Sentry," and is a response to the violation of Polish airspace. It begins"immediately," although it will take a few days to become fully operational. “We are prepared and ready to defend every inch of territory,” said Rutte. “We deployed Baltic Sentry earlier this year to help safeguard critical infrastructure from reckless behavior in the Baltic Sea. Today, General Grynkewich and I are here to announce that NATO is launching Eastern Sentry to further strengthen our position along our eastern flank.”
A reinforcement that the Alliance deems essential precisely to repel the drones arriving from the east. Those that landed in Polish skies, Rutte continued, are"dangerous and unacceptable, whether intentional or not." The NATO Secretary General then added that the evaluation is ongoing but reiterated "the reckless behavior we have seen from Russia is extremely dangerous." And he recalled: "This is not the first time it has happened; it has already happened in Romania. In any case, these are drones arriving from Russia, and in any case, it is an unacceptable episode. Of course, if it was intentional, it will be relevant," Rutte added.
Going into detail about the military deployment of"Eastern Sentinel", Rutte then specified that"it will begin in the coming days and will involve a range of assets from allies including Denmark, France, UK, Germany, and others. In addition to more traditional military capabilities
, this effort will also include elements designed to address the particular challenges associated with the use of drones.Grynkewich explains that the operation will begin “immediately,” as the orders have already been given, although it will take some time to reach full operational readiness. “I issued the order this evening for the start of Eastern Sentry,” he explains. “The order was issued at the start of this press conference, and so operations begin immediately under my authority.” For the general, “it will take time to put everything together, with the new contributions that have arrived. We will continue to work on this and refine the design of the operation moving forward, but it begins immediately.” The operation “will cover the entire eastern flank of the alliance, from the far north to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean , wherever we might see a threat from the Russians. It will be modeled on Baltic Sentry, which is a very successful operation,” he concludes. The Baltic Sentry was launched in January to improve maritime security in the Baltic Sea, and in particular to safeguard undersea cables and pipelines, thus ensuring energy security and communications in the region.
