NATO will transform its Baltic air policing mission into an air defence mission, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Wednesday, calling the move a major boost to the region’s security.
“One of the key outcomes of this summit is that the NATO air policing mission is being transformed into a NATO air defence mission. This will significantly strengthen Lithuania’s air defence capabilities,” Nausėda said in a comment provided to BNS from Ankara, where NATO leaders are meeting.
Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur told the newspaper Postimees that the change would not be noticeable to the general public but would expand NATO’s operational flexibility.
“The main difference lies in the details, more specifically in the authority granted to NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and to the pilots,” Pevkur said. “Naturally, we cannot go into those details, but the new arrangement will ensure greater flexibility and faster response times.”
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Baltic states have pressed NATO to upgrade the long-running air policing mission into a broader air defence mission.
The issue has gained urgency following repeated incursions by military drones into Baltic airspace. Officials have attributed the incidents to Ukrainian drones that had been diverted by Russian electronic warfare. Some officials, however, have more recently suggested Russia may be deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones toward Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland.
NATO fighter jets deployed to the Baltic states currently patrol the alliance’s eastern flank and intercept Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea. The alliance’s Baltic air policing mission operates from bases in Lithuania and Estonia.
