20 years ago, on March 29, at 16:47 in the afternoon, the first Allied F-16 fighter jets of the Belgian Air Force entered the Baltic airspace and touched down at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai thus beginning the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states. 20 years ago Lithuania became a full-fledged member of NATO, the strongest defensive Alliance in the world.
As Lithuania marks the 20th anniversary in NATO and as the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission host, the dates will be solemnly marked and the Air Detachments will change over on March 28 at Šiauliai. The symbolic key to the Baltic airspace will be passed from the Belgian and French contingent commanders to the Spanish and Portuguese contingent commanders.
The NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states has been conducted since late March of 2004 when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia became members of NATO. The Allies have been working side by side for 20 years to ensure the integrity and security of the skies over the Baltic states. The current rotation conducted by the Belgian and French contingents from Šiauliai is the 64th one since its start in 2004. The Allies oversee and protect the Baltic airspace 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
So far, 17 Allies deployed their equipment and other capabilities to the mission in the Baltic states conducted from the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šauliai and from Amari in Estonia, so that NATO airspace over the region is protected and a reliable deterrence in ensured.
The NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states is a form of regional NATO peacetime mission that demonstrates the Allied commitment to protect every inch of NATO’s eastern flank territory. There are agreements on airspace guard and defence in force for the NATO Allies who do not have suitable air capabilities (Albania, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovenia. In its turn, the Baltic countries render top quality Host Nation Support in the form of national aviation bases and surveillance and control capabilities.
Protection of the Baltic airspace is one of the key priorities for deterrence and defence in the region. NATO took a decision last year during the Vilnius Summit to strengthen the NATO Integrated Air Defense System with the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model, first in the eastern flank. It is now a work in progress in practical terms with an aim to deploy air defence and missile capabilities in the Baltic region.
The event will be attended by President of the Republic of Lithuania HE Gitanas Nausėda, Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Chief of Defence of Lithuania Gen Valdemaras Rupšys, Chief of Staff of NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Admiral Joachim Rühle, Deputy Commander Joint Force Command Brunssum Lt Gen Luis Lanchares, Deputy Commander of NATO’s Allied Air Command Air Marshal John Stringer, other high NATO officials, representatives of foreign diplomatic missions.
The ceremony will also be attended by Belgian Air Force Maj Gen Harold Van Pee, commander of the first Air Policing Mission rotation in the Baltic states back in 2004 20 years ago, who currently serves as commander of the Combined Air Operations Centre which coordinates the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states.
