The Belgian defence minister Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist) has confirmed that Belgian military staff assisted in Poland’s actions to take out Russian drones violating its airspace on Tuesday night. Belgian forces supplied Polish fighter jets with kerosene fuel.
“It was a deliberate action. That has now been clarified,” says Defence Minister Theo Francken with regard to the 19 Russian drones that flew into Polish airspace on Tuesday night, though Russia insists that it was not a provocation.
Belgian defence minister Theo Francken has confirmed that Belgian military were involved in shooting down the drones. “It was a collaboration between allies. (...) Belgian soldiers from the MRTT (a tanker and transport aircraft) refuelled the (Polish) F-35s in the air during the night,” Francken told VRT).
The defence minister noted that ‘only’ a third of the drones were shot down. “Lessons must be learned" but insisted there was no threat to Poland either. "If you talk about a surprise attack, then of course you have a different scenario. There would have been much more military engagement from NATO’s side. This was a test and it has woken everyone up.”
Francken insisted that Belgium should also reinforce its air defences as the country only possesses F-16s at the moment.