The Estonian Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday, September 21st, that the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss the incursion of three Russian aircraft into Estonian airspace.
“On September 22 … the UN Security Council will convene an emergency meeting in response to Russia’s brazen violation of Estonian airspace last Friday,” the ministry said in a statement.
Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets reportedly violated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland on Friday. Moscow denied the incident. In response, Italian F-35 fighter jets belonging to NATO’s air defense support mission in the Baltic states, as well as Swedish and Finnish aircraft, were scrambled to intercept the Russian planes and warn them.
This is the first time in Estonia’s 34 years of UN membership that it has officially requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the violation was “part of Russia’s regional and global escalation” after Polish and Romanian airspace were also violated earlier this month. “This behavior requires an international response,” Tsahkna said.
