Europe must stand with Poland against Putin

Poland knows more than most European countries about the realities of war and the cruelties of foreign occupation.

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Since it regained its independence in 1918, it has spent almost half of the time under German or Russian domination. Now, it is being menaced by the latest iteration of the Russian empire.

The possibility of war has usually been regarded as unthinkable in Western Europe. But in Warsaw, it feels much more real. So when Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, describes Russia’s drone invasion of its airspace as an act that has brought the prospect of military conflict “closer than at any time since the Second World War”, he should be taken seriously.

Fortunately - and in spite of the policies pursued by US president Donald Trump - Nato is still strong enough to answer the call to action issued by Mr Tusk, and “Article 4” discussions were initiated, involving representatives of all 32 nations in the Atlantic Council. By coincidence (presumably), the British defence secretary, John Healey, has been hosting a summit of the European Group of Five in London, with his French, Italian, German and Polish counterparts, and with the Ukrainians in attendance.

Intensive consultations are now underway to ascertain the adequacy of the immediate response of the alliance to the detection of drones over Poland, and what more can be done to strengthen the defences of Poland - and, more widely, of Nato - as well as those of Ukraine, which was the principal but not sole target of this example of the Kremlin’s aggression, executed with the assistance and connivance of Belarus.