The Czech government has decided to create a coordination group to protect against drones, including Russian ones.
This was announced by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Czech media outlet iROZHLAS reports.
According to him, the group will include, among others, experts from the ministries of defense, interior, transport, the Czech army, and the police.
They will monitor the development of technologies, propose various measures, including legislative ones, and also coordinate individual government bodies in this area.
"In this way, we are strengthening the defense of our country against new threats that we see not far from us," said the Czech Prime Minister.
Fiala says that how often the group will meet and what exactly its work will consist of will become clear in the coming days.
Defense Minister Yana Chernokhova said the government is developing a multi-layered air defense system that includes more than just drones, adding that a tender for the purchase of several hundred drones of various types is also part of this approach.
According to Chernokhova, it is important that all levels of the system work as a single whole. She also emphasized that the coordination group under the auspices of the State Security Council also dealt with issues of participation in certain international cooperation.
Russian drones over NATO countries
On the night of September 10, Polish airspace was violated by Russian drones during Russiaʼs attack on Ukraine. This was the first time that Polish aviation shot down drones over its territory. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, at least 8 UAVs crossed the state border of Ukraine towards Poland.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Polish airspace had been violated at least 19 times. Due to the Russian drone incursion into Poland, NATO activated Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
It provides that member states of the Alliance can initiate consultations when, in their opinion, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of one of the members is under threat.
On the evening of September 13, Russian drones once again flew into Romanian territory. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the drone entered Romanian territory by almost 10 km and was in the airspace of a NATO country for approximately 50 minutes.
Romanian Defense Minister Ionut Moșteanu said that their F-16 fighter jets were "very close" to shooting down a Russian drone, but it didnʼt happen because it flew towards Ukraine.
- Estoniaʼs Foreign Ministry said that on September 19, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets illegally entered the countryʼs airspace over the Gulf of Finland and spent 12 minutes there. This is the fourth such incident this year.
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