Following recent Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a leading European policy representative for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), expressed surprise at the response from Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Speaking to RTL and ntv on Thursday, Strack-Zimmermann questioned the characterization of the incident by the German Chancellor as representing a “new quality”. She stated that the situation has been deteriorating dramatically for over three and a half years and that attempts to provoke the West, particularly through large-scale cyber and hybrid attacks, are not a novel occurrence.
Strack-Zimmermann suggested the incident was a deliberate Russian provocation. “Twenty drones deliberately overflying or landing in Polish territory within a 100-kilometer range is naturally not coincidental. It represents a further provocation” she stated. She emphasized the importance of the NATO response, noting that it effectively demonstrated the alliance’s commitment to defending every inch of NATO territory.
