NATO
July 31, 2022

Germany, Hungary, Italy take up NATO’s Baltic air policing

German, Hungarian and Italian fighter aircraft will take up air patrols over the Baltic region as part of NATO’s air policing mission starting on Monday (1 August 2022).

For the coming months, four Hungarian JAS-39 fighter aircraft and some eighty personnel will lead the mission out of Šiauliai air base in Lithuania, while four German Eurofighter aircraft will fly out of Ämari in Estonia. They will be joined by Italian Eurofighters based in Malbork, Poland.

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The new contingents replace Belgian, French and Spanish units that have been patrolling the region since April….Allies have taken turns guarding the skies over Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since they joined NATO in 2004, as the three countries do not have their own fighter aircraft….