Baltic countries deny asking Greece for help

The Estonian Ministry of Defense has not asked Greece for assistance in ensuring air security.

About this reports publication “Postimees”, citing a statement by the Estonian Ministry of Defense. The ministry indicated that information published in the Greek newspaper “Kathimerini” last weekend is not true.

Earlier, the Greek publication reported that the Baltic countries asked Greece to send F-16 fighters to guard their airspace. The newspaper claimed that in response, Greek authorities rejected a request from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to send fighter jets to participate in NATO's mission to guard the region's airspace.

Allegedly, representatives of the Greek government said that their aircraft are already involved in patrolling the airspace of Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, and in 2025 they plan to participate in protecting the airspace of Bulgaria.

Monday 21 October The press service of the Estonian Ministry of Defense denied this information: the Baltic countries did not ask Greece to participate in ensuring air security in the region.

It is worth recalling that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania do not have their own fighters, so NATO has supported them in ensuring air security since the Baltic countries joined the alliance in 2004. For this Every four months, one or more NATO member states send aircraft and troops to the Baltic states to protect their airspace.

These countries are determined in accordance with the NATO master plan, and participation in the mission is voluntary. The rotation is coordinated by the NATO command, the Estonian Ministry of Defense explained.

The units and aircraft that participate in the mission are mainly stationed at air bases in Siauliai (Lithuania) or Ämari (Estonia). As the Ämari air base is currently undergoing major renovations, Allied Air Force units are temporarily stationed at the Lielvarde base in Latvia.

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