The Estonian government announced on Friday that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets had entered its airspace without permission and remained there for 12 minutes. The Estonian army confirmed that the military aircraft had violated the airspace near the island of Vaindloo, about 100 kilometers from Tallinn, in the morning. The aircraft had not submitted any flight plans, their transponders were not switched on, and they did not communicate with air traffic control.
Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna described the incident as “unprecedentedly brazen” and pointed out that this was already the fourth violation of Estonian airspace by Russia this year.
“Russia has already violated Estonian airspace four times this year, which is unacceptable in itself, but today's violation, in which three fighter jets entered our airspace, is an unprecedented act of insolence,” the foreign minister said.
Estonia has decided to request consultations under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) in connection with the violation of its airspace by Russian fighter jets, Prime Minister Kristen Michal wrote on social network X on Friday.
“This morning, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace. NATO fighter jets responded and forced the Russian aircraft to retreat. (...) The Estonian government has decided to request consultations under Article 4 of NATO,” he explained.
Testing NATO's defense capabilities?
The violation of Estonian airspace came just over a week after two dozen Russian drones appeared in Poland. NATO responded to the incident by shooting down some of these drones. Several Western officials view the incident as a test of the alliance's defense capabilities. They are likely to assess the Russian fighter jets in the Baltic states in a similar manner.
Estonia responded to Friday's incident with a diplomatic note to the Russian ambassador.
“Russia's increasingly frequent border violations and aggressiveness must be met with a rapid increase in political and economic pressure,” Estonia said. The country announced that it had lodged a protest with the highest-ranking Russian diplomat in the country.
Tallinn, which has long been one of Ukraine's most vocal supporters, had already accused Moscow in May of violating NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea – at that time, it was said to have been an attempt to prevent an operation against a tanker belonging to the so-called shadow fleet, which circumvents Western sanctions.
Kallas wants to support defense
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, described this as an “extremely dangerous provocation” and pointed out that this was already the third similar incident in a matter of days.
In her opinion, Moscow is thereby increasing tensions in the region and at the same time testing the West's resolve. Kallas emphasized on social network X that the EU would continue to support its member states in strengthening their defense with European funds.
She added that Putin was trying to test Europe's unity and reactions, and that weakness would send the wrong signal.
(reuters, red, mja)