Poland, Latvia and Romania call for immediate bolstering of air defence on NATO's eastern flank

The defence ministers of Romania, Poland and Latvia have written a joint letter to their NATO allies stressing the need to immediately strengthen air defence efforts on the Alliance’s eastern flank.

Source: Delfi, citing the Ministry of Defence of Latvia, as reported by European Pravda

Details: At a meeting of defence ministers of the Bucharest Nine on 18 September, Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds urged the allies to find immediate collective solutions to strengthen NATO airspace.

Representatives of Romania, Poland and Lithuania attended the meeting, which was convened by Latvia, to discuss recent violations of NATO airspace by Russian UAVs, as well as steps to be taken at the national and Alliance level to strengthen NATO airspace. The joint letter to the allies was signed by the defence ministers of Romania, Poland and Latvia.

The Latvian Defence Ministry said Russian aggression continued to create risks and threats for NATO countries, including airspace violations by Russian drones. Over the past month, incidents involving Russian drones have occurred in Romania and Poland as well as in Latvia. This is a new reality that cannot be ignored or left without a response, Spruds stressed.

The ministers believe that NATO countries must reinforce their capability to detect, identify and neutralise low- and slow-flying objects and that rotational air defence must be implemented immediately.

In the joint statement, the ministers of the Bucharest Nine condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine. They also strongly condemned Russia for its numerous violations of NATO airspace in Latvia, Romania, Poland and other countries in the Alliance.

For reference: The Bucharest Nine is a platform for discussing security issues. Its members are Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

Background: 

• Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tîlvăr said the Bucharest Nine (B9) countries are "deeply concerned" by the numerous flights of Russian drones and missiles into NATO airspace and a "decisive" response from NATO is required.
• Earlier in September, a Russian attack drone was recorded as having crashed in Latvia.
• The drone, which was equipped with explosives, had reportedly flown in from the territory of Belarus.
• After this and other Russian drone crashes in Romania, NATO once again resumed the discussion about how it should respond to such incidents in its airspace.

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