‘Shoot down Russian, drones, period!’ Europe’s noisy effort to unify against Russia
The NATO meeting this week highlighted tensions within the alliance—and a recognition that such tensions are exactly what Putin wants.
Patrick Tucker | October 17, 2025
Russian incursions into NATO allies’ airspace are causing rare public disagreements between treaty allies. Is this the disarray that Moscow wants, or a sign of healthy debate? Officials we spoke to suggested that the answer is both.
On the eve of a Wednesday meeting of alliance defense ministers in Brussels, Secretary-General Mark Rutte argued to his colleagues that shooting down Russian crewed aircraft over NATO territory would show weakness, not strength. Across the Atlantic a day later, Danish Army chief Maj. Gen. Peter Harling Boysen had a more aggressive message for allies: “Shoot down Russian drones, period.” To be sure, alliance policy may differ for manned and unmanned incursions—but members are still arguing about the policy.
The disagreement is even sharper behind closed doors, according to two officials from alliance-member governments. They pointed to a recent Article Four consultation in Tallinn and a NATO ministers’ meeting in Riga, where some nations said incursions should receive stronger responses and others wanted to build up defenses before taking steps that could lead to war.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/10/shoot-down-russian-drones-period-europes-noisy-effort-unify-against-russia/408899/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
