NATO air forces to conduct training exercise this month over Baltic states

NATO air forces to train over Baltic countries

BRUSSELS — NATO air forces will conduct an exercise later this month over the Baltic states, which have been alarmed by the fast-improving ties between the alliance and neighboring Russia.

The training March 17-20 over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will involve French Mirage 2000 and Polish F-16 fighters and U.S. aerial tankers, Lt. Col. Thomas Dillschneider, spokesman for the Allied Air Headquarters in Ramstein, Germany, said Tuesday.

The mission — the latest in a series for fighter units patrolling the area — aims to “demonstrate solidarity with NATO’s Baltic members,” Dillschneider said.

NATO has kept a rotating detachment of fighter jets for air policing duties in the Baltics since the three countries joined the alliance in 2004. None of them possess the fast jets required for such tasks.

Relations between NATO and Moscow were frozen after Russia’s 2008 war with Georgia, but have improved significantly under the Obama administration, which has sought to enlist Russia’s assistance in the escalating war in Afghanistan.

The improvement, however, has put Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on edge, for they see neighboring Russia as a regional security threat.

They were particularly alarmed recently by the possible sale of up to four French 20,000-ton French Mistral-class command and control helicopter carriers to the Russian navy, which would greatly enhance its ability to project power. The deal is reportedly worth $2.2 billion and the ships would enter service in the next five to seven years.

The Latvian and Lithuanian defense ministers have both complained to France over the Mistral sale. Military analysts in the three nations have said the vessels would change the balance of power in the region.

NATO stressed that the coming exercise was not linked to this issue.

“There is no relationship between our training event and the potential Mistral deal,” Dillschneider said.