New Delhi: Tensions are escalating on NATO’s eastern flank after three Russian fighter aircraft violated Estonian airspace without permission on Friday. The jets remained in the airspace over the Gulf of Finland for 12 minutes, in what Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna called an “unprecedentedly brazen” incursion.
In response to the incident, Estonia’s foreign ministry immediately summoned a Russian diplomat to lodge a formal protest and hand over a note of condemnation. According to Tsakhna, this marks the fourth time Russia has violated Estonian airspace this year alone.
The incursion by three MIG-31 fighters comes amidst a series of recent airspace violations by Russian military assets into NATO member countries. Just this month, Russian drones have breached the airspace of both Poland and Romania.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently told his country’s parliament that Poland had identified 19 such violations in a single day, with at least three drones being shot down. Similarly, Romania’s defense ministry confirmed last week that its airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighboring Ukraine.
These repeated incidents are raising alarms across the alliance. Tsakhna called for a “swift increase in political and economic pressure” on Moscow to counter its “increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness.”
The principle of NATO’s collective security is enshrined in its Article 5, which states that an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all. Poland, Romania, and Estonia are all members of the alliance. While Article 5 has only been formally invoked once in NATO’s history—following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States—these ongoing provocations are a constant test of the alliance’s resolve and a stark reminder of the heightened security risks in the region.