Resurrection
03-31-2006, 01:41 PM
The parliamentary defense committees of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania called on their governments to build up the three states’ defense capabilities to allow them to take over patrols of the Baltic skies from other NATO members.
”The aim is to gradually increase the capability of our own countries to take over the patrolling of our skies,” Trivimi Velliste, head of the Estonian parliament’s defense committee, told AFP after a meeting of officials from all three Baltic states in Tallinn.
”First, we need proper military airfields, then planes,” he said.
Defense officials at the meeting passed a resolution urging their governments “to continue working towards establishment of a permanent NATO air policing solution in cooperation with the allies”.
Currently, older NATO member states take turns to patrol the skies of the three Baltic states which emerged from Soviet rule 15 years ago as they do not have the capacity to police the airspace themselves.
Full story - click here (http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/article_005377.php).
”The aim is to gradually increase the capability of our own countries to take over the patrolling of our skies,” Trivimi Velliste, head of the Estonian parliament’s defense committee, told AFP after a meeting of officials from all three Baltic states in Tallinn.
”First, we need proper military airfields, then planes,” he said.
Defense officials at the meeting passed a resolution urging their governments “to continue working towards establishment of a permanent NATO air policing solution in cooperation with the allies”.
Currently, older NATO member states take turns to patrol the skies of the three Baltic states which emerged from Soviet rule 15 years ago as they do not have the capacity to police the airspace themselves.
Full story - click here (http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/article_005377.php).