Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, told reporters in Brussels on Thursday that the alliance's response to vessels refusing inspection or deemed suspicious would become more robust in the coming weeks.
"We will respond more decisively, engage larger forces and signal our readiness to act much faster against ships that do not submit to control," he said after a meeting of the EU Military Committee.
Kukuła's remarks came days after the Estonian navy, supported by a helicopter and patrol aircraft, escorted the Gabon-flagged tanker Jaguar—described by Tallinn as part of Russia's sanctions-evading "shadow fleet"—out of Estonia's territorial waters to prevent any threat to underwater infrastructure.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said a Russian fighter briefly jet violated NATO airspace during the incident, prompting allied aircraft to scramble.
Kukuła told reporters that additional allied ships would begin continuous patrols in the Baltic, supported by drones to reduce response times to potential sabotage attempts.
He added that NATO intends to introduce at sea the same round-the-clock alert procedures already in place for its air forces.
Under the alliance’s Air Policing mission, fighter jets remain on constant standby to intercept unidentified aircraft.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article mischaracterised aspects of the story and incorrectly attributed statements to Gen. Wiesław Kukuła. We regret the error and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.