Kasciunas calls for air policing algorithm change after Russian drone crash in Latvia

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas has called for a change in the algorithm of NATO's Air Policing mission in the Baltic states following the recent crash of a Russian military drone in Latvia.

"The air policing must not only patrol but also, if necessary, if possible, if time permits, shorten the decision-making chain at the NATO level so that they can take off immediately and destroy the drones," he told reporters on Wednesday.

If radars detect that a drone may be entering the territory of an Alliance country, that information should be quickly handed over to the NATO headquarters, the minister added.

"The NATO HQ assesses the situation to see if there is sufficient evidence that it is a hostile drone and not some other lost, for example, I don't know, aircraft, and then a swift decision is made to deploy air police jets. This is a certain algorithm and it needs to be accelerated," Kasciunas said.

Asked what Vilnius' reaction should be if an aggressor's drone violated Lithuanian airspace, Kasciunas said it should be a collective NATO decision.

Latvia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday that debris from a Russian military drone flying from Belarus had been found in the country's eastern region of Rezekne.

Latvia's Chief of Defense Leonids Kalnins told LETA that the drone entered Latvian airspace on early Saturday morning and was immediately spotted.

According to him, preliminary information suggested that the drone in Latvia had no "hostile targets" or “specific purposes to fly into Latvia”.

NATO's Air Policing mission in the Baltic states is being carried out from Lithuania and temporarily from Latvia, while the Estonian airbase is undergoing repairs.

Lithuania calls on NATO to beef up the Baltic states' air defense by adopting a rotational air defense model.

"Now the air policing mission is in principle designed for slightly different purposes, that is, to monitor airspace and, well, let's say, to escort foreign aircraft that have violated airspace out of that airspace," the Lithuanian defense minister said.