Poland wants to allow army to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine without coordinating with NATO and EU

Poland plans to change its legislation to allow the army to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine on its own, without waiting for approval from NATO or the EU, the resource Slovo i Dilo reports, citing Gazeta Wyborcza.

The Polish Ministry of Defense submitted a draft law on this back in June, and they intend to consider it in an expedited manner.

It is noted that the current version of the law allows the Polish president to decide on foreign missions at the request of the government in cases of war, peacekeeping operations, the fight against terrorism or evacuations . But in 2022, the government introduced amendments that required the country to obtain prior consent from NATO, the EU and the country on whose territory Polish forces were to operate .

These changes were criticized by the commission investigating Russian influence in the context of the attack on Ukraine . They stated that such a decision deprived Warsaw of the right to independently respond to threats from drones crossing the border from Ukraine or Belarus.

"Today we are discussing the strategy of using our air forces and air defenses over Ukraine and Belarus to shoot down Russian planes, drones and missiles that have not yet crossed the Polish border. Meanwhile, there is still a regulatory act that prohibits our authorities from making such a decision on their own. This needs to be changed quickly, unless someone wants it to remain that way and our defenses are not as effective as possible," an expert who participated in the preparation of the report on Russian influence told Gazeta Wyborcza.

Thus, the current Polish government is leaning towards more decisive action and wants to lift these restrictions.

It was previously reported that Russian Gerber drones reached Poland thanks to additional fuel tanks.