Yesterday at 19:54
Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has called for changes to NATO’s air patrol mission in the Baltic states following the recent crash of a Russian military drone in Latvia.
This statement was announced on LRT television.
Details: According to the Lithuanian Defense Minister, NATO’s mission “should not only patrol, but also, if time permits, shorten the decision-making chain at the NATO level so that they can immediately take off and destroy drones.”
Kasčiūnas believes that if a drone is detected threatening to breach NATO airspace, the information should be quickly relayed to NATO headquarters.
“NATO headquarters assesses the situation, determines whether there is enough evidence that it is indeed an enemy drone and not another lost aircraft, and then a quick decision is made to deploy air police planes. This is a specific process, and it needs to be accelerated,” the Lithuanian minister stated.
When asked how Vilnius would respond if its airspace were breached by an aggressor’s drone, Kasčiūnas emphasized that it should be a collective NATO decision.
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