(For immediate release.) The Estonian American National Council condemns Russia’s violation of Estonia’s airspace on September 19, as well as airspace violations against Poland and Romania earlier in the week. Shortly before 10 am last Friday, three (3) Russian fighter jets crossed into Estonian airspace on their way from St. Petersburg to Kaliningrad. These MiG-31 warplanes came within 9 kilometers of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn.  The piloted aircraft spent a full 12 minutes in Estonian airspace in a clear act of provocation that could not have been an accident or mistake.

In response to these violations, Estonia and Poland have invoked Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, pursuant to which NATO members will meet  on Tuesday, September 24 in Brussels to determine next actions. Friday’s incident in Estonia marks a new escalation in Russia’s current campaign of intimidation, hybrid warfare and destabilization efforts against the Baltics, and call for unity and resolve from NATO members.

Estonia also called for a meeting of the UN Security Council. At the September 23 Security Council meeting, European allies warned they would shoot down Russian jets or drones involved in any further violations of NATO airspace.  We welcome the statement by US Ambassador to the UN, Michael Waltz, to the Security Council, in which he affirmed that the United States and its allies “will defend every inch of NATO territory.”

We condemn Moscow’s brutal, three-years long invasion of Ukraine, its effective subjugation of Belarus and other nations, and its military, economic and political partnerships with China, North Korea and Iran. Russia’s significant military buildup – and its political will to use it – poses a real and long-term threat to the sovereignty of our NATO allies. It is also a strategic threat to our own national security and a broader challenge to United States’ leadership in the world.

EANC is profoundly grateful for the United States’  long-term support of the security of Estonia, and of its Baltic sisters, Latvia and Lithuania. Given recent reports that the Pentagon plans to halt military funding programs and reduce troop deployments for the Baltics, we are alarmed by the risks those reductions would pose. Reducing U.S. support for Baltic security now could impact these nations’ defenses and would send a wrong signal to Moscow that more aggression against the Baltics and other sovereign nations would be acceptable.

As we witness the expanding challenges to America’s leadership and national security posed by Russian aggression, we call upon the U.S. Administration to strengthen our collective defense posture against Moscow’s aggression, to protect U.S. interests in the Baltics and beyond.