The NATO leadership has changed the mandate of the Baltic air policing mission from patrol to combat.
According to “Elchi”, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told the BNS news agency about this.
“One of the significant results of the NATO summit held in Ankara is the decision to reclassify the alliance’s air policing mission as an air defense mission,” he said.
For the Baltic countries that do not have their own aviation, airspace control is provided by their allies in the alliance. NATO fighter jets have been stationed at the Zoknyay airbase in Lithuania since 2004. Since April 2014, the second part of the mission has been based at the Ämari airbase in Estonia.
The military format will allow the alliance’s fighter jets to participate in combat operations and integrate into Lithuania’s defense plans.