Latvia, Poland, and Romania Urge NATO Allies for Immediate Air Defence Rotation and Strengthened Airspace Protection

The defence ministers of Latvia, Romania and Poland have signed a joint letter to allies stressing the need to immediately implement NATO's air defence rotation model and to strengthen NATO's deterrence, surveillance, reconnaissance and air policing activities on the Alliance's eastern flank, the Latvian Ministry of Defence said.

The day before, at the meeting of the Nine Defence Ministers in Bucharest, Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spuds called on the Allies to find immediate and collective solutions to strengthen NATO's airspace. 

At the Latvian initiative, a quadripartite meeting of representatives from Romania, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania took place to discuss the recent violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones, as well as the steps that need to be taken at the national level and collectively strengthen NATO airspace. The Defence Ministers of Romania, Poland and Latvia signed a joint letter to Allies.

Russia's military aggression continues to pose risks and threats to NATO countries, including Russian drones violating NATO airspace, the Latvian Ministry of Defence said. Over the past month, incidents involving Russian drones have occurred not only in Latvia, but also in Romania and Poland. This is a new reality that should not be ignored, Sprud said.

Ministers agreed that NATO must strengthen its ability to detect, identify and defeat low and slow flying objects. Commitments to implement NATO's air defence rotational model should be implemented immediately, Spruds stressed.

In a joint statement, the Bucharest Nine Ministers condemned Russia's war against Ukraine. Ministers also strongly condemned Russia for its repeated violations of NATO airspace with drones and missiles in Latvia, Romania, Poland and other NATO countries.

Ministers expressed their desire to find common ways to address the challenges and stressed the need to strengthen the joint defence of NATO's airspace, including through the implementation of the NATO Air Defence Rotation Model.

During the meeting, the officials assured that they would continue to support Ukraine by providing all types of support. The defence ministers also discussed mutual cooperation to strengthen deterrence and defence on NATO's eastern flank. They stressed national coordination in strengthening NATO and the European Union's external borders against potential hybrid and conventional threats.

Defence Ministers agreed that NATO Allies must increase their defence spending to ensure that the ambitions set out in NATO's defence plans are met. Likewise, the targeted development of the defence industry plays an important role in achieving the ambitions set out in the plans.

The Bucharest Nine is a platform for discussing security issues, which includes Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.