Something is afoot in Nato’s airspace – but the alliance’s complacent response to the various incursions is rather troubling. In recent weeks, suspicious drones have intruded into the jurisdictions of Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Norway; identifiable Russian drones were tracked over Romania and shot down over Poland. Three Russian Mikoyan MiG-31 fighters violated Estonia’s airspace and loitered for 12 minutes before retreating when Italian F-35 aircraft were scrambled to intercept them.

Putin is testing the alliance, pushing it little by little, upping the ante by increments to see what response he finds

You might think that these various incidents would shake Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, out of his usual phlegmatic self. But you’d be mistaken.

‘We are 25 times bigger than Russia,’ said Rutte at the meeting of Nato Ministers of Defence in Brussels yesterday. ‘We know that their fighter jet pilots are famously not successful in steering these fighter jets…we are not going to take down an airplane in Nato airspace if it does not pose a threat. But if it poses a threat, I can assure you that our military people have all the authorities they need to make sure that that plane immediately does not pose a threat anymore.’

Rutte, nicknamed ‘Teflon Mark’ during his 14 years as prime minister of the Netherlands, is not only........

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