Overview

• President Petr Pavel said member states should respond adequately to violations of NATO airspace, including military action up to shooting down an intruding aircraft.
• A senior foreign policy figure from Germany’s CDU/CSU bloc urged readiness to use force, saying any breach of alliance borders should be met with measures up to downing fighters over NATO territory.
• Estonia reported that three Russian MiG-31s entered its airspace on September 19 and said the jets flew without flight plans, with transponders off and no contact with air traffic control.
• Prime Minister Kristen Michal called the episode brazen and deliberate, and Estonia has requested NATO consultations under Article 4.
• Russia’s Defense Ministry denied any incursion, saying the MiG-31s flew a planned route over Baltic international waters from Karelia to Kaliningrad, as Poland earlier reported about 20 drones entering its airspace on September 10.