An emergency session of the UN Security Council has been announced for Monday (22/09) to address the incursion of three Russian aircraft into Estonian national airspace, according to an announcement from Estonia’s Foreign Ministry. It should be recalled that Estonia and NATO announced on Friday (19/09) that three MiG-31 fighter jets from the Russian Federation violated their airspace and remained for approximately 12 minutes over the Gulf of Finland. Notably, aircraft from Italy – which has undertaken NATO’s Baltic air policing mission – Sweden, and Finland were scrambled to intercept the violations.
Read: Russia denies Estonia and NATO claims: “We did not violate airspace”
Estonia requests emergency Security Council session
Specifically, as announced on Sunday (21/09) by Estonian diplomacy: “On September 22 (…), the United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session in response to Russia’s flagrant violation of Estonian airspace last Friday.” It should be noted that this is the first time in 34 years of Estonia’s UN membership that this country, also a member of the EU and NATO and a staunch supporter of Ukraine, has formally requested an emergency convening of the Security Council. Meanwhile, the Estonian Prime Minister announced on Friday that his country will request NATO to activate Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for consultations among allies when one of the members is threatened. According to Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, this violation “is part of Russia’s broader plan to test Europe’s and NATO’s resolve through its behavior”. “This behavior requires an international response,” according to Margus Tsahkna, cited in the announcement. “Russia’s conduct is incompatible with the obligations of a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” he adds.
