EU Foreign Policy Chief, Kaja Kallas has decried the recent violation of Estonian airspace, calling it “a deliberate provocation which could have ended with devastating results.”
She made the remarks during a UN Security Council meeting over Russia’s violation of Estonia’s airspace.
Kallas, a former Estonian Prime Minister noted that the incursion came after Russian violation of both Polish as well as Romanian airspace with drones a week earlier.
“It cannot be that Russia accidentally violates three times in two weeks European airspace, and if it was accidentally, [it] was a mistake, there has been plenty of time for Russian Federation to apologise and say, sorry, we made a mistake.
“Instead, we see a pattern. Russia is testing European borders, probing our resolve, undermining the security of the whole of Europe. Russia will continue to provoke, as long as we allow it.”
Kaja Kallas
On Friday, NATO member Estonia reported that three Russian MiG-31 jets had entered its airspace for 12 minutes before they were forced to withdraw.
The incursion came over a week later, after 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, which NATO jets shot down.The two incidents have sent shivers across Europe, especially in those nations geographically closest to Russia and Ukraine.
Also, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said it was a “reckless and dangerous” violation of Estonian airspace, “penetrating 10 kilometer deep, north of Tallin.”
He called out Russian “escalations and provocations” which he says seek to “intimidate countries to stop supporting Ukraine and to test our resolve.”
UK Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper asserted that Russia keeps “violating its most basic obligations under the UN Charter” with “escalating” attacks on Ukraine, and “reckless” acts of incursion into Polish, Romanian and Estonian airspace. “These latest acts are dangerous and reckless,” she stated.
US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said that “just nine days ago, this council met to discuss Russia’s violation of Poland’s airspace with a large number of military drones,” and urged Russia “to end the war in Ukraine and stop actions that could risk it escalating into a broader conflict.”
He noted that despite that, Russia “again violated the airspace of a NATO member.” He stated that the United States and our allies will defend every inch of NATO territory and “Russia must urgently stop such dangerous behaviour.”
Russia Rejects Estonia’s Claims
Meanwhile, Russia rejected claims that its military jets violated Estonia’s airspace last week, accusing Tallinn of having no evidence to support its assertion, as deep-seated concerns rise about whether Moscow’s war in Ukraine will spill over into neighbouring European countries.
Speaking to reporters prior to the UN Security Council meeting, Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov accused the Baltic nation of making up false claims.
“We never heard in the Estonian statement that they have objective monitoring data [to back up their claim]. That is why we consider such words to be empty, unfounded and a continuation of a completely reckless pattern of escalating tensions and provoking a confrontational atmosphere.”
Dmitry Peskov
Peskov said that the Russian Ministry of Defence also denied the accusation and said its pilots continuously operated in line with international law.
Russia iterated the same stance at the UN Security Council meeting, with its representative, Dmitry Polyanskiy saying that the Estonian accusations are part of the same “spectacle entitled ‘blame Russia for everything’.”
He insisted that Russian fighter jets never crossed into Estonian airspace, but conducted a planned flight to an airbase in Kaliningrad, “carried out in strict accordance with international airspace use rules.”
NATO members’ representatives will also meet on Tuesday to discuss the incident and Article 4 of the alliance’s charter, which outlines that all member states will hold consultations if any of the parties feel their “territorial integrity, political independence, or security” has been threatened.
The discussions will be the third time that Article 4 has been invoked during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the ninth time overall since the United States-led military alliance was formed 79 years ago.
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