Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda announced on Thursday evening that Russian military aircraft had violated Lithuanian airspace, a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”), and described the act as a “blatant violation of international law.”
Nausėda stated on his “X” account: “This evening, Russian military aircraft violated Lithuanian airspace. This is a blatant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Lithuanian territory, and it reaffirms the importance of strengthening European air defense preparedness.”
The Lithuanian President affirmed: “We must respond to this action,” and indicated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will summon a representative of the Russian Embassy to lodge a protest against what he described as “reckless and dangerous behavior.”
In the same context, the Lithuanian army stated that two Russian military aircraft had violated Lithuanian airspace for eighteen seconds before NATO fighter jets, which were conducting interception patrols in the region, intervened.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense clarified on “X” that its forces “acted quickly in coordination with NATO fighters,” while news reports mentioned that Spanish fighters belonging to the alliance carried out the interception.
This incident comes in the context of escalating tensions between Moscow and the Baltic states, where recent months have witnessed repeated violations of European airspace by Russian aircraft, especially over Finland, Estonia, and Latvia, at a time when NATO is strengthening its military presence in Eastern Europe since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022.
source: 961 today
