Politics
France, Germany bolster Poland air defence after drone raid blamed on Russia
France and Germany moved to bolster the defence of Polish airspace on Thursday as the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss Warsaw’s accusation that Moscow launched a drone raid on its territory.
Poland branded the incident, which prompted Polish and NATO forces to shoot down several drones overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, a deliberate “unprecedented” attack on the country, NATO and the European Union.
Moscow denied targeting the country and said there was no evidence the drones were Russian.
But Polish President Karol Nawrocki warned Thursday during a visit to an airbase in western Poland that the incident was “an attempt to test the mechanism of action within NATO and our readiness to respond”.
Germany said it would “extend and expand” its participation in NATO’s Air Policing programme, to provide more cover to Polish airspace.
Its defence ministry said it would double the number of Eurofighter jets deployed to four and extend their mission by three months to the end of the year.
And French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a post on X that France would “deploy three Rafale fighter jets to contribute to the protection of Polish airspace and of NATO’s Eastern Flank together with our Allies.”
The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Sweden each summoned their Russian ambassadors to protest the drone incident.
The UN Security Council’s South Korean presidency announced Thursday it would hold an emergency meeting to discuss Warsaw’s claim of a “violation of Polish airspace by Russia”.
It will take place on Friday at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT).
“Reckless”: NATO
Stray Russian drones and missiles have entered the airspace of NATO members, including Poland several times since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Polish officials said on this occasion, drones had violated its airspace 19 times. There were no casualties, and the damage was limited — a house and a car were destroyed.
Poland’s National Security Council met on Thursday and the defence minister was expected to brief parliament on the latest findings.
Poland boosted its security Thursday, closing air traffic along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine to civilian flights up to an altitude of three kilometres (1.9 miles) until December 9.
The PAZP air traffic control agency announced that drones would also be banned.
The country had already announced ramped-up measures on the Belarus border to cope with military drills the government is carrying out with its ally Russia between September 12 and 16.
The few open border crossings with Belarus were to be closed from Friday due to the Zapad (“West”) drills.
Reacting to the closure, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement urged Poland “to consider the consequences of such destructive steps and to review its decision as soon as possible”.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Wednesday that the drone raid marked an unprecedented escalation of tension with Russia.
Tusk called a NATO meeting on Wednesday, invoking Article 4 under which a member can convene urgent talks when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” is at risk — only the eighth time the measure has been used.
A cornerstone of NATO is the principle that an attack on any member is deemed an attack on all.
NATO chief Mark Rutte denounced Moscow’s “reckless behaviour” while hailing his organisation’s response. The alliance’s air defences had done their job, he told journalists.
Unity “reaffirmed”
Both the European Union and Ukraine condemned the incident on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said on X: “Russia’s reckless violation of Polish airspace threatens our European security.”
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky denounced the incident as “a pure provocation by the Kremlin”.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement: “The Russian violations are unacceptable and constitute a threat to Europe’s security.”
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news briefing that China “hopes that all parties concerned will properly resolve their disputes through dialogue and consultation”.
China has never denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Poland is a major supporter of Ukraine and hosts more than one million Ukrainian refugees. It is also a key transit point for Western humanitarian and military aid to the country.
THE HAGUE: A huge inferno gutted a 19th-century Amsterdam church Thursday, as the Netherlands endured an unsettled New Year’s Eve with two dead from fireworks and “unprecedented” violence against police.
The blaze broke out in the early hours at the Vondelkerk, a tourist attraction that has overlooked one of the city’s top parks since 1872.
The 50-metre-high (164-foot) tower collapsed and the roof was badly damaged but the structure was expected to remain intact, Amsterdam authorities said.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.
The head of the Dutch Police Union, Nine Kooiman, reported an “unprecedented amount of violence against police and emergency services” over New Year’s Eve.
She said she herself had been pelted three times by fireworks and other explosives as she worked a shift in Amsterdam.
Shortly after midnight, authorities released a rare country-wide alert on mobile phones warning people not to call overwhelmed emergency services unless lives were at risk.
Reports of attacks against police and firefighters were widespread across the country. In the southern city of Breda, people threw petrol bombs at police.
Two people, a 17-year-old boy and a 38-year-old man, were killed in fireworks accidents. Three others were seriously injured.
The eye hospital in Rotterdam said it had treated 14 patients, including 10 minors, for eye injuries. Two received surgery.
It was the last year before an expected ban on unofficial fireworks, so the Dutch bought them in massive quantities.
According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, revellers splashed out a record 129 million euros ($151 million) on fireworks.
Some areas had been designated firework-free zones, but this appeared to have little effect.
An AFP journalist in such a zone in The Hague reported loud bangs until around 3am.
Steeper US tariffs on some imported furniture items took effect Thursday, in a move that could add pressure on households already feeling the pinch from elevated costs of living.
The increase was planned under an earlier tranche of sector-specific tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, as the US leader widened a slate of duties he has rolled out since returning to the White House.
Trump’s tariffs in 2025 have affected goods ranging from steel to autos, and more investigations — that could lead to even more levies — are underway.
In October, a 10-percent duty on imported softwood timber and lumber came into effect, along with a 25-percent duty on certain upholstered furniture and kitchen cabinets.
These tariffs, justified by the Trump administration as a means to boost US industries and protect national security, also included a planned increase come January 1, 2026.
Effective Thursday, the rate on certain upholstered furniture rises to 30 percent, while that on kitchen cabinets and vanities doubles to 50 percent.
The measure is likely to impact imports from countries like Vietnam and China, which have been key suppliers of imported furniture to the United States.
But the tariff levels for wood products from Britain will not exceed 10 percent, while those from the European Union and certain other trading partners who reached deals with Washington face a 15-percent ceiling.
Products subject to sector-specific tariffs are also not doubly hit by countrywide “reciprocal” levies that Trump has separately imposed, which are in some cases higher.
The Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of these countrywide tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
But the high court’s eventual decision does not affect sector-specific duties.
GENEVA: Several people were killed and others injured when an explosion ripped through a bar in the luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans Montana, Swiss police said early Thursday.
“There has been an explosion of unknown origin,” Gaetan Lathion, a police spokesman in Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland told AFP.
“There are several injured, and several dead.”
He said the explosion took place at around 1:30am (0030 GMT) in a bar called Le Constellation, which is popular with tourists, as revellers rang in the new year.
Images published by Swiss media showed a building in flames, and emergency services nearby.
“The intervention is still ongoing,” he said.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.
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