Russian military aircraft that violate the airspace of NATO countries must be shot down, said the President of the Czech Republic, a NATO member state, Petr Pavel, amid repeated air provocations by the russian federation.
According to the politician, with such an "adequate" response, Moscow realizes that it has crossed the line and made a mistake.
"Unfortunately, this is a question of balancing on the verge of conflict, but you simply cannot retreat from evil. Russia will behave as we allow it to," Pavel, who previously headed NATO's military committee, said on Czech television.
He called russia's actions "extremely irresponsible behavior" and said that intrusion into the airspace of other countries is a pretext for launching defensive mechanisms, including "shooting down such an aircraft."
In September, russian fighter jets and drones repeatedly violated the airspace of NATO's Eastern European members Poland, Romania, and Estonia. Moscow denies the accusations.
The day before, the Lithuanian Defense Minister, commenting on another incursion by russian fighter jets into Estonian territory, called for the shooting down of targets that violate NATO airspace.
"NATO's border in the northeast is being tested for a reason. We need to be serious. PS: Turkey set an example 10 years ago. A little food for thought," she said, referring to Turkey's shooting down of a russian Su-24 in November 2015.
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