By Thomas Grove
NATO jet fighters intercepted Russian war planes that violated Estonia's airspace Friday, causing the tiny Baltic state to call for formal consultations with members of the Western alliance.
The Russian jet fighters were in Estonian airspace for 12 minutes and left after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization aircraft responded, said Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. It marked the second time in two weeks that a NATO member invoked Article 4 of the alliance's treaty, triggering formal discussions.
"Such violation is totally unacceptable," Michal wrote on X.
Invoking Article 4 doesn't demand a response from members but gives a framework to discuss Russia's increasingly belligerent stance in recent weeks. Poland called for the same consultations last week after the country said 19 Russian drones crossed the border into its airspace where they flew deep into the country and were engaged by NATO radar and war planes. Some landed on their own, others were shot down.
The second round of consultations on the same topic in as many weeks could raise calls for a more muscular response to the Russian incursions. Most NATO countries are reluctant to push any measures that could provoke open conflict with Moscow, but members of the alliance agreed to dedicate more equipment to Poland after the drone incursion, including new planes and helicopters to boost security on its eastern flank.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the incursion into Estonian airspace.
"They constitute a new step in this accumulation of provocations and irresponsible actions by Russia," he said in a post on X. "I extend my full support to the Estonian authorities. A security posture will be adopted in response to these repeated violations."
Estonia, one of the alliance's easternmost and smallest members, has already seen a handful of airspace violations this year. The country has adopted one of the toughest stances toward Russia and earlier this year discussed the possibility of sinking Russian ships if they threatened to damage any Estonian infrastructure. The discussion occurred during a spate of Russian sabotage on underwater sea cables earlier in the year.
A call for Article 4 consultations has been rare since the creation of the alliance in 1949. Until Estonia's request, Article 4 discussions had only been held eight times.
Write to Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 19, 2025 17:22 ET (21:22 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments