VIENNA — Germany will send four Eurofighter jets to defend Latvian airspace during its upcoming elections, as concerns over drone incursions from neighboring Russia and Belarus remain high.
Berlin plans to dispatch four Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, alongside a contingent of several dozen soldiers and technicians, to the Lielvārde air base in central Latvia. They will be there for a week in late September and early October, the German ministry of defense said in a statement.
Latvian authorities had requested support from allies to secure the skies over the country during the general election, Germany said. The Latvian parliamentary election is scheduled to take place Oct. 3.
The mission is billed as part of NATO’s enhanced air policing north, or eAPN, in the Baltic States, though the short, one-week timeline and narrower election focus set it apart from the alliance’s routine four-month rotations.
None of the three small Baltic States possess their own fighter aircraft. Unlike northern Estonia and southern Lithuania, Latvia is not usually home to permanently stationed NATO jets; instead, the allied aircraft stationed in the neighboring states also cover Latvian skies.
The Baltic states in particular have been calling for strong NATO commitments to secure the alliance’s eastern flank, as governments in the three small countries feel particularly threatened by Russia. This year, repeated unauthorized drone incursions have additionally put the countries on edge. Some of these have been identified as Ukrainian drones that strayed off course from their targets in Russia, while other instances remain unidentified.
Significantly, Italian NATO jets in neighboring Lithuania shot down a suspected Russian-made drone this week after it crossed the border from Belarus. It was the first time a drone was shot down in Lithuanian airspace.
Lielvārde air base, where the German Eurofighters will be stationed during their mission, has also seen rotating contingents of other NATO countries’ fighter jets. Just a few weeks ago, in late August, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets visited the base. In April, French Rafale jets based out of Šiauliai, Lithuania, visited the airfield. NATO has also used the base for its AWACS aircraft during missions along the Russian border.
Latvia and its two Baltic neighbors have been members of NATO since 2004, joining alongside fellow eastern flank countries Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, and Slovenia.
