After two Russian planes violated Lithuanian airspace on Thursday, the country's security level has not changed, said the Prime Minister's spokesman Algirdas Dobrovolskas, according to LRT, noting that the country's Foreign Ministry expressed a strong protest to Russia regarding the incident, writes UNN.
Details
"No, it hasn't changed," Ignas Dobrovolskas said on LRT radio on Friday.
"Both NATO allies and Lithuanian services reacted appropriately, this situation could not have been resolved in any other way," he said.
Russian military aircraft Su-30 and Il-78 flew about 700 meters into Lithuanian territory near Kybartai on Thursday evening and stayed there for about 18 seconds.
According to the military, the planes were likely conducting refueling exercises.
"Perhaps these planes were conducting refueling exercises, (...) but whether it was actually refueling exercises is hard to say, because we know what country we are talking about," Dobrovolskas said.
In response to the incident, two Spanish Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, performing a NATO air patrol mission, were scrambled and flew to the scene of the violation.
The incident was condemned by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Prime Minister Inga Rugienė, calling the violation a gross breach and Russia acting as a terrorist state that disregards international law and the security of neighboring countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) expressed a strong protest to Russia regarding the incident, and NATO and European Union partners, as well as the North Atlantic Council, were informed about it through diplomatic channels.
"Lithuania always advocates for stricter sanctions against Russia," the Prime Minister's spokesman said.
The head of the country's National Crisis Management Center, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, said that the services' conclusions regarding the incident are expected.
"It is too early to make an assessment without receiving an assessment from our services and the Air Force, but it is important to note that the reaction of our allies, our air defense systems, was quick and professional," Vitkauskas told LRT radio.
He noted that the violation was noticed by the Air Force.
"The detection was instantaneous, there are no problems with detection, our services reacted excellently, but the biggest question is what was the intention and what were the reasons," Vitkauskas said.
According to him, no reaction from Russia has been received yet.
"We have not yet received a response, it is important what the Russian side will say, but the most important information we need now is the assessment of the services," he said.
According to Vitkauskas, it is still difficult to say whether it was a planned provocation by Moscow.
"Perhaps it would be premature to make such an assessment, of course, we should look at this incident more broadly, let's remember September, when Estonian airspace was violated, and this violation was much more complex, longer and more threatening," he noted.
Addition
This is one of many recent Russian airspace violations in Europe, which, as the publication writes, fuels fears that Moscow is testing the West in a "gray zone" between war and peace.
In September, three Russian MiG-31 fighters violated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland, where they stayed for 12 minutes. Lithuania and Latvia, in support of Estonia, previously protested to Russia regarding these actions.