Russian drones over Poland set alarm bells ringing for Meloni and NATO

 ROME - In the end the expected majority summit on Autonomy became forgotten in the stressful day of Giorgia Meloni, who, since waking up, was called to deal with the news of the violation of Polish airspace by over a dozen Russian drones, Il Messaggero reports.

 A “serious and unacceptable” incursion into NATO skies, the prime minister’s verdict was one of “full solidarity” was Warsaw, in a message of condemnation, which reiterated that “Italy will continue to work to guarantee European security, starting from that of Ukraine, and for the achievement of a just and lasting peace.”

 Before her, Minister Antonio Tajani had condemned what, to Rome and to other chancellors, seemed like “an offense to the safety of the entire Euro-Atlantic area.”

 For Meloni it is a cold, indeed icy, shower, with the Italian AWACS called to get themselves in the air – along with German, Polish and Dutch pilots – as the sacred rules of the Alliance enforce. The concern about the trespassing is very high in Palazzo Chigi, and no one is keeping that a secret.

 The clock hands seem to have returned to the G20 summit in Bali, Nov. 2022, when the leaders present in Indonesia, Meloni included, were awakened by news of a missile dropped on the small village of Przewordow, also in Poland, which killed two people.

 Just a few hours later it was discovered that the missile came from a Ukrainian air defence system: “but the responsibility is still all the Russian’s,” Meloni thundered at the time. After three years her opinion has not changed: the responsibilities are all attributed to the Kremlin, that of peace, aside from bluffs, she doesn’t want to hear.

 Upon her arrival at Palazzo Chigi, before seeing the Moldovan president Maia Sandu, the president was informed of the Security Council meeting and of the phone call that awaits her, in the afternoon, with the NATO General Secretary, Mark Rutte. A call that also gnaws away at the time needed for the majority summit, interrupted after just an hour to allow the president of the Council to connect with Zelensky and the others.

 As well as the leader of Kiev and Mr Rutte, Meloni found herself on the call faced with British Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, and of course, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The leader of Warsaw walked the others through what had happened not hiding the fears of an escalation that risks overflowing.

 Like with dominoes, one single nudge can trigger a chain reaction, one after another. In that moment, for agenda reasons, the Frenchman Emmanuel Macron, is not connected, who of course, hears from Zelenksy, Rutte and Tusk, but separately.

 At the table, concrete support is also shown for proposals for the Polish aerial defence, as the incursion of the Russian drones in the last few hours may only be an appetizer for what will come next. In fact, peace seems like a mirage, and fears of an American disengagement fuelled further by the timing of the task force meetings entrusted to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, now more and more loose.

 But on the guarantees of security “we must not go back on our word, on the contrary. They are the only way to fight, along with the penalties, to guarantee a peaceful future for Ukraine,” believes the Prime Minister. However, she continues to have doubts, which are also seen coming from Italy, about the proposal for sending troops to create a buffer area, an interposition force, for which she opposes Starmer and Macron.

 “If Putin has no issues violating Polish airspace, how much will he use to hit a force that in his eyes violates his territory?” reasoned an advisor of the President. In the afternoon Meloni also hears from the Indian Prime Minister, Nerendra Modi, among the protagonists of the Shanghai summit with Xi and Putin. The shots which portray all of them amicably together have circulated around the world.

 But Modi, who has a special relationship with Meloni – the memes that see them as protagonists in India have become a fad – reiterated to the President “his sincere commitment to peace and for the end of hostilities.”

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