On January 18 Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas paid a visit to the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai to meet with the Italian Air Force Detachment deployed there for NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states.
“The NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states is a peacetime mission. It is an obvious sign of NATO readiness to defend this area of the Alliance. Your presence in the broader sense is also a signal of Alliance-wide unity, stability, defence and deterrence,” Minister said to Italian troops.
The NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states is currently carried out by Italian and German air force detachments with Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft. Italy leads the mission from the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai and Germany provides augmentation from the Estonian Air Force Base in Amari.
Italian and German crews conducting the mission are also training with Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, and other allies deployed in region.
The NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states has been conducted without interruptions since 2004 when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined NATO. The mission was enhanced in 2014 as a result of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Fighter aircraft deployed by NATO allies are held on high alert to scramble and intercept Russian fighter jets that frequently approach the Baltic airspace and do not respect international rules of aviation safety.
NATO Commands in Ramstein and Mons ensure a continued and effective coordination and management of air policing over the Baltic States, and the capabilities are allocated by the Allies. The ongoing NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states demonstrates NATO’s unity and shared determination of the Allies to ensure allied defence and deterrence.
