Lithuania Urges NATO to Strengthen Air Patrols After Russian Drone Crash in Latvia

Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has called for changes to NATO’s air patrol mission in the Baltic states following the recent downing of a Russian military drone in Latvia.

“The air policing must not only patrol but also, if necessary, if possible, if time permits, shorten the decision-making chain at the NATO level so that they can take off immediately and destroy the drones,” Kasčiūnas said, according to LRT.

He emphasized that if radar detects a potential drone entering NATO territory, the information must be quickly relayed to NATO headquarters.

“The NATO HQ assesses the situation to see if there is sufficient evidence that it is a hostile drone and not some other lost aircraft, and then a swift decision is made to deploy air police jets. This is a certain algorithm, and it needs to be accelerated,” Kasčiūnas explained.

When asked about Lithuania’s response if Russian drones violate its airspace, the Defense Minister stressed that any decision to shoot down a drone should be made collectively.

Russian “Shahed” drones regularly breach airspace of NATO countries bordering Ukraine. On the night of Sunday, September 8, at least two Russian "Shaheds" entered Romanian airspace during Russia’s aerial attack on Ukraine.

On August 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has directed diplomats to engage within the framework of the Ukraine-NATO Council to explore the potential of forming a coalition of neighboring countries that would assist in intercepting Russian missiles over Ukrainian airspace.