Italy joins French fighter jets in NATO air control mission in the Baltics

On Thursday, November 28, a handover ceremony was held at the Lithuanian Armed Forces airbase in Šiauliai, where French servicemen and a new contingent of Italian Air Force servicemen began a NATO mission to patrol the airspace of the Baltic states.

This was reported by the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT, citing a statement by Vaidotas Urbelis, Director of the Defense Policy Department of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, reports “European Pravda”.

According to the broadcaster, the Italians will continue the work of their compatriots, who have been defending the airspace of the Baltics for the past four months, on Eurofighter Typhoon fighters. They will also be supported by the French Air Force with Rafale fighter jets.

Therefore, as journalists report, both countries will defend Lithuanian airspace with eight fighter jets for the next four months.

It is noted that this is the seventh time that the Italian Air Force has participated in a mission in the Baltics, and the eighth time that the French have done so.

“Reliable protection of NATO airspace in the Baltics is a key element of deterrence and defense. I thank our allies, the Italians and the French, for their commitment to the security of our region,” – Urbelis said.

NATO countries have been patrolling the airspace of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on a rotational basis since March 2004, when the Baltic states were admitted to the alliance. 

Since 2004, patrols have been conducted from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania, and since 2014, the support mission has also been carried out from Emari Air Base in Estonia. Since March of this year, for nine months, while repairs are underway at the Emari base, the support mission has been based in Lielvarda, Latvia.

Recall that in April, Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurinas Kasciunas invited Sweden to deploy its fighter jets to carry out the NATO air police mission in Lithuania.

In July, it was reported that the Spanish and Portuguese military, who had been guarding the airspace of the Baltic countries for four months, had been replaced by Italians.