French fighter jets were scrambled 11 times in the past week as part of the NATO Air Policing mission in the Baltic States, the French military spokesperson announced on Thursday. The official described these incidents as a higher number of “challenges” than usual.
The mission is to protect the airspace of the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, by rotating NATO fighter jets, reports hotnews.ro. The aircraft are scrambled to intercept unidentified aircraft or those not complying with flight rules.
Guillaume Vernet stated, during a weekly press conference, that the unusually high number of interceptions could indicate that Moscow is trying to demonstrate its strength in the same week it hosted the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg.
“The French detachment deployed as part of the Air Policing mission in the Baltic countries has carried out several interceptions of Russian military aircraft flying without flight plans and without radio contact,” said Vernet.
The official specified that among the intercepted aircraft were armed fighter jets, reconnaissance aircraft, and transport planes. The incidents occur following a series of cases where military drones have penetrated the airspace of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, fueling fears that the war in Ukraine could extend to NATO’s northern borders with Russia.